Trials of the Hanyō Brothers
by Apex Soldier
Summary: Found drowning at the age of 4, Inuyasha takes Naruto in as a younger brother and they set off into the vast lands of the ninja world. Returning 7 years later, how much has changed? Very AU. Rated for future lemons/fights/gore. Naruhina/Inukag/others...
1. Of innocence and yōkai

**Something that came to me one day while I was typing a chapter for "Naruto of the immortal Clan"... I had the urge to type it and here it is...**

**Enjoy and please review...**

**Chapter 1: Prologue: Of innocence and youki...**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Inuyasha...**

* * *

The night was still as a single figure twitched slightly. Its ears moved left and right as it slowly made its way towards a small apartment complex just a few feet away. Looking left and right, the figure dashed out of its hiding place under bushes and ran on all fours to the entrance of the apartment. Sadly, fate had other ideas for the figure.

With accuracy that could only be achieved from training in the shinobi arts, three kunai and a shuriken flew through the air and impaled the figure's limbs. Two kunai firmly held its arms down while the remaining kunai and shuriken buried themselves into his legs. With a howl of pain, the figure fell face first into the ground while its limbs twitched in agony and pain.

Smirking, two shinobi's wearing the standard village vest and headband neared the squirming figure. Lifting it by the scruff of its neck, one shinobi glared evilly at the fallen figure, smirking as its cerulean blue eyes teared up and held unadulterated fear in them.

"Aw, is the little demon brat scared?" One shinobi taunted as his partner laughed in his face. The small boy who was held by the scruff of his neck whimpered as the shinobi holding him used his other hand to pull on his left fox ear which was a shimmering dark gold, even in the dark. His tail was rolled up into a ball and against his body. The other shinobi noticed the lack of tail and looked behind him. With a smirk and a harsh tug, the other shinobi unraveled his tail and almost ripped off the appendage.

A louder cry of pain filled the night air as the blond haired hanyō cried in vain to be heard by a bystander. No such luck as every passing villager either ignored it or were too busy with their own business. Sniffling, the blond hanyō could only cover his chest with its weak and malnourished arms as the shinobi kicked him in the chest.

Flying back, the hanyō closed his eyes and groaned loudly as his back hit the unforgiving concrete of the sidewalk. Straining to open his left eye, the hanyō looked up and saw his apartment. Suddenly, one of the two shinobi attacking him stood in between him and his apartment, wiping away any hope of reaching his home.

A pair of hands gripped his neck and threw him across the field that led towards the exit gates of Konoha. With a quick set of hand signs, the ground under the hanyō disappeared and without any support, the young hanyō fell into the pit. A yell of pain was heard in the pit and a floating boulder appeared from the pit.

A blond mess of hair appeared in the center of the boulder and both shinobis couldn't help but chuckle at the hopeless expression placed on the hanyō's face. Nodding to each other, the shinobis dragged the boulder containing the battered and tired body of the blond hanyō and headed for the front gates. The guards on duty only smiled as new hope filled the hanyō's eyes but were destroyed when they waved goodbye. More silent tears fell down his blue eyes as he mentally said goodbye to his home and possibly… the world of the living.

Noticing that the blond hanyō was looking back at Konoha, one shinobi sneered as he knocked the hanyō unconscious with a chop to his neck. The hanyō slowly closed his eyes as he prayed for a savior to come to his rescue.

Watching from the entrance of Konoha, both guards chuckled as they saw the blond disappear into the darkness of the forest. Unknown to them, a little girl watched in despair and anguish. She had seen the shinobis attack the poor hanyō and even went to get her father to stop them. After her father and her witness them drag the hanyō away, her father looked away in scorn and just walked away, his last words haunting the little girl forever.

"Let it be, its better this way." The little girl just watched in shock at her father, never hearing such cold words from him about anything. With one last look, the little girl joined her father as they headed home, praying for the boy's safety and his quick return home.

[*.*.*.*]

"Wake up demon!" A voice yelled into the blond hanyō's fox ear. The hanyō looked up with dreary eyes as the two shinobis from earlier smirked menacingly at him. The boy's eyes widened when he noticed that he was hovering a couple hundred feet over a large body of water. Looking up, he saw both shinobis smirking at him. Pain consumed his head as a punch to his face made his upper lip bleed. Another punch opened an old wound on his head, making more of the hanyō's bloodshed over his head.

Tears burst out of their imprisonment as the hanyō realized one or both of two things was about to happen. One; he was going to die and two; he was never going to be the same even if he survived. With one last pray, the hanyō felt gravity take hold of him and the boulder as it fell faster and faster towards the body of water. Drawing his last breath, the hanyō felt a rush of water cover the top of his head and darkness take him in.

Looking around, panic soon overcame the hanyō as he saw himself going deeper and deeper into the abyss. Feeling his lungs run out of air, the hanyō could only feel his head get lighter as his vision blurred. The last thing he saw was a blurry figure with long white hair hastily swim towards him.

[*.*.*.*]

The sun rose over the horizon, signaling the start of a new day for all the creatures that roamed the green Earth. The poor hanyō was no exception.

Struggling to keep its eyes closed for more rest, the hanyō couldn't help but sit upright and rub sleep away from his eyes. Remembering his last predicament, the blond hanyō looked around as he saw that he was in fact on solid ground. With a happy chuckle, the hanyō thanked whoever heard his prayer. His left ear twitched when he heard the snap of a twig. Getting up to his feet, the hanyō moved to the opposite side of the clearing he was in as the sounds of more twigs snapping was heard.

"Ah, stupid demon." The hanyō went into a fetal position as he knew the voice was talking to him "Hey! The hell are you cowering for?" the hanyō risked his health looking up and see an angry looking man staring at him. He would've looked away again if it weren't for the man's interesting features.

He had white dog ears on the top of his head and had white hair over his head. His amber eyes pierced the young hanyō's soul while he cracked his clawed hands.

"Y-You… you're like me." The young hanyō managed to say. The older hanyō scoffed and placed his hands over his head.

"Hardly, you're a young kit while I'm a dog hanyō. We're nothing alike…" The older hanyō couldn't finish as the younger hanyō jumped on him and onto his shoulders, messing with his ears. "Ah, watch it brat!" Looking down over his head, the blond hanyō smiled.

"My name's Naruto, what's your name?" Naruto asked in a happy tone.

"Inuyasha, now get the hell off me." Naruto jumped off his shoulders and landed a few feet in front of him. Inuyasha raised an eyebrow at the energetic hanyō in front of him. "The hell are you so happy about?" Inuyasha asked.

"I found somebody like me." Naruto answered as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. He then looked away solemnly as he remembered something. "I don't know anyone else like me. Everyone else hates me or attacks me." Naruto said, holding back his tears. Inuyasha, while looking at him passively, was torn on the inside. "I am always alone, looking for something to eat or someone to play with. But their mommies and daddies always hit me and make me go away."

Inuyasha then noticed that Naruto's shoulders were shaking.

"Why?" Inuyasha was shocked that he asked him that question. "Why do they hate me?" Inuyasha's eye sprang open as he saw a younger him in the same position as Naruto. Tears trailing down his cheeks, ragged clothes that looked almost like they were about to fall off, and a sad aura surrounding him. Inuyasha knelt down in front of Naruto and placed a comforting hand on his left shoulder. Naruto looked up in surprise as Inuyasha's amber eyes connected with sad blue ones.

"Because you are like me… you are a hanyō; a half demon." Inuyasha then stood up and walked away. Naruto wiped his tears away with his right forearm and quickly followed after Inuyasha. Inuyasha then looked back and saw Naruto stop right in front of him. "What?"

"C-Can I go with you… please?" Naruto asked with pleading eyes.

"No." Inuyasha answered with no hesitation.

"W-Why not?" Naruto asked as he felt more tears about to leak.

"I'm not exactly the safest person to hang around with." Inuyasha was about to walk away again but a small hand stopped him when it gripped the bottom of his red hakama.

"I-I don't care. I-I don't want t-to be alone… not a-again." Naruto replied. Inuyasha scowled as he actually thought about taking the young hanyō with him. He shouldn't; being with an already targeted half demon was not safe for the growing kit. Looking back at his eyes, Inuyasha's will broke and he nodded.

"Fine, but don't complain when you're looking at death in the face." Inuyasha said, hoping to intimidate Naruto. Sadly, Naruto only smiled and nodded as he jumped on Inuyasha's shoulders and wrapped his little arms around Inuyasha's neck.

"Can you carry me please?" Naruto pleaded with giant pleading eyes. Inuyasha grunted but didn't openly reject his plead. "How old are you? I'm four… I think. How come you have white hair? And where's your tail? Are you the type of dog with no tail? Oh I once saw a cat with no tail… poor thing. And then the cat jumped up a tree and got stuck. I tried to help it down but then I remembered that I don't like cats." Inuyasha groaned loudly as Naruto's never ending questions and stories continued on, making him regret letting the annoying hanyō travel with him. After a while, Naruto started to tire and felt himself losing consciousness.

"Thank you… nii-san." Was the last thing Naruto said before sleep consumed him. Inuyasha smirked as he continued moving forward and heard Naruto's breathing even out.

"Nii-san huh?"

[*.*.Time skip.*.*]

Hinata sighed as she walked towards her home. She was a year away from graduating the academy and the new year was starting in a week. She was heading home so her father could lecture her on how important it is to be the top student in the graduating class. Passing the northern gates of Konoha, Hinata couldn't help but feel nostalgia hit her as she vaguely remembered standing where she stood, watching someone being dragged out of the village about seven years ago.

She couldn't remember who it was or why he was being dragged out but Hinata only remembered feeling sorry for him. Waving shyly at the guards who had caught her watching, Hinata spotted something out of her peripheral vision. Two distant figures were slowly making their way towards the entrance of Konoha.

Activating her family's dōjutsu, Hinata gasped when she couldn't see anything beneath the cloaks the two figures wore. The only thing that she could make out was that the one on the left was about eight or so inches shorter than the other. Silently making her way behind a tree nearest the front gates, Hinata patiently waited for the figure to reach the gates. She usually wasn't this nosey but she couldn't help but want to find out who these two were. She didn't have to wait long as the two cloaked figure walked past the front gates and guards.

"Hey!" One guard said, stopping the two cloaked figures. "Who are you two and what business do you have with our village?" The same guard asked. The shorter of the two looked at the guards before radiating killing intent. Both guards faltered but recovered when the killing intent vanished.

"My brother and I seek asylum in your village; we're sick of roaming the lands without a home to return to. We wish to speak wish to speak with your hokage to set up such arrangements." The taller informed the guards. Both looked at each other but nodded towards the two strangers.

"Hold on, we need to call someone up to escort you there." One guard said as he went to the small shack stationed next to the front gates. Looking at the nearest tree, the shorter of the two figures pointed to it.

"I'm sure she can do it." Hinata gasped, wondering how they knew she was there. Deciding that staying hidden was pointless, she walked from behind the tree and up to the two figures.

"Ah, Hyuga-san, would you mind escorting these two to the Hokage's office?" The guard still outside the shack asked. Hinata nodded shyly and started to walk towards the Hokage Tower. The two figures followed after her until they were only a few steps behind her. Hinata looked back and saw that the taller of the two was aloof while looking at the sky while the shorter was looking at her.

Because of his hood, Hinata wasn't able to see anything above his nose but everything under was visible. He was smiling at her, his two canine teeth noticeable as they were sharper than most people have them. It scared her but at the same time, it took her breath away. It was a happy smile, one that showed no negative thoughts or intentions, just a plain happy smile.

"A-Ano… i-is there s-something I can h-help you with?" Hinata asked but the shorter figure only shook his head.

"Nope, just admiring the view." He said, widening his smile when saw Hinata blush furiously. The taller looked down at the shorter and smirked.

"Nice." Was his comment. The shorter scoffed as he picked up his pace and walked besides Hinata.

"So what's your name?" He asked

"Hinata. H-Hinata Hyuga." Hinata answered.

"Hinata eh? That's a beautiful name." The shorter commented. Hinata blush darkened and she gulped, wondering how she was able to stay conscious.

"T-Thank you. M-May I know y-your name?" She asked in a moment of boldness.

"M-My name? Oh it's… it's Takun; Takun Kurosaki. And the idiot behind us is my older brother Inu." Takun answered and soon felt a bump form on the top of his head as his brother hit him over the head.

"I'm not an idiot! I'm a hell of a lot smarter than you!" Inu yelled, earning a growl from Takun. Takun then noticed that part of his ear was sticking out and hurriedly covered it with his hood. Looking at Hinata, he sighed as he saw that she didn't see his ear. Though Hinata had, she was looking in front of her with a thoughtful expression.

'_W-Was that…'_ Hinata thought before noticing that they had reached the Hokage Tower. "O-Ok, here we a-are." Hinata stuttered as she tried to smile. Both figures looked up at awe before Takun looked at Hinata.

"Thanks for escorting us." He then placed his right hand on her cheek and caressed it with his thumb. "And try smiling more, makes you look even cuter." Walking past a shocked Hinata, Takun followed after his brother and waved at her from behind. "See ya around Hinata-chan."

Hinata spent the next three minutes thinking about Takun's words. Snapping out of it, Hinata hurriedly made her way to her home with, for some unknown reason, Takun's words still ringing in her head.

Inside the tower, Takun and Inu patiently waited in front of the Hokage's office as the Hokage was finishing up a meeting he held with some jonin. His secretary had said to wait but Takun wondered how much longer he could go without losing it. Getting tired of waiting, Takun burst into the room and was about to say something but was soon pulled out of the room by Inu who saved him as many kunai and shuriken were thrown at the door way.

With a sigh, Inu let go of Takun who was thankful for his brother's quick thinking and reflexes. Entering the room, Takun looked around and saw many jonins eyeing him suspiciously along with their Hokage. Rubbing the back of his head with his right hand, Takun smiled cheekily at them.

"Yo." He said. The Hokage coughed into his left hand, getting everyone's attention.

"It appears that we will have to continue this meeting at a later time. We still have two weeks to decide; sufficient amount of time to make up your minds. Now if you don't mind, it seems that my other appointment is getting a little restless." The jonin's chorused a "Hai" before walking or disappearing out of the room. Inu then entered the room and his red cloak swirled as he made to sit down. Takun's orange cloak also swirled as he sat besides his brother.

Hiruzen sighed and messaged his temples, wondering why he had agreed to take up this old job again.

"So, from a letter sent to me by the guards, you two seek asylum in my village." Hiruzen informed them. Both nodded.

"That's true old man; we need a place to call our home!" Takun bellowed. Hiruzen cocked an eyebrow at Takun's disrespectful words.

"I would show some respect to the person who held the sake of a home in his hands, wouldn't you say so?" Hiruzen said but was surprised to see Takun shake his head.

"You wouldn't do that to me old man, we have history." Takun said with a cheeky smile. This shocked both Inu and Hiruzen who was wondering just how right in the head this twelve year old boy was.

"I have never seen you before in my life. While I may be aging, I would not forget someone as disrespectful and bold as you." Hiruzen retorted. "If you leave now without another word, I'm sure Suna would…" Hiruzen stopped short after seeing Takun remove his hood over his head, showing him his golden blond hair and dark golden fox ears. His azure, slit pupil eyes stared at beige eyes with nostalgia.

"Are you sure you don't remember me, old man?" Naruto asked with sarcasm. Hiruzen stood and walked to Naruto and held his face with his two wrinkled hands.

"N-Naruto… is that really you? I haven't seen you in over seven years. What happened to you?" He asked but the sounds of growling filled the room. Looking to the side, Naruto and Hirunzen saw Inuyasha remove his hood as while with a scowl on his face, his snow white ears and hair surprising Hiruzen.

"He told me that he was attacked and then left for dead. I found him underwater in a waterfall not too far away from here." Inuyasha then focused his glare on Hiruzen. "If I hadn't found him, he'd be dead right now!" Inuyasha yelled. Hiruzen looked to Naruto for support of Inuyasha's claim and nodded.

"It's true. Seven years ago I was attacked by two shinobis. I… I don't remember their faces but after brutally attacking me, they knocked me out and dragged me out of the village. They woke me up and then threw me into the waterfall. Nii-san was able to save me before I drowned and I've traveled with him ever since." Naruto said.

"Ya getting this old man?" Inuyasha asked, ignoring the glare Hiruzen gave him. Dropping his hands to his side, Hiruzen looked away from the two brothers with a sigh.

"I will see to it that you two get a home here. Since you were born here then there's nothing more to it Naruto but your brother, however, is another story." Hiruzen said but Inuyasha waved it off.

"Whatever, just what do I have to do?" He asked in a bored tone. Hiruzen walked back to his desk and pulled out some papers from the bottom left drawer of his wooden desk. Passing it over to Inuyasha, Hiruzen sat back on his chair, taking out his pipe and adding the right amount of tobacco to it before lighting it.

"Just sign these things out and we're done. Also, are you a shinobi? Have any ninjutsus or jutsus of any kind?" Hiruzen informed and then asked. Inuyasha read the papers before quickly signing it, though not without having trouble writing first.

"Nope, no nin-whatever you said. I don't know anything about that stuff. I'm content with just using my own demonic energy, natural strength and speed to fight." Inuyasha answered as he handed all the paper work back to Hiruzen. "I'll fight for this place but there's gotta be something in it for me." Inuyasha said.

"You have to be a shinobi to fight for this place. Either you enter the academy like all the others who have the skill to be a shinobi or you prove to me that you are more than eligible to handle your own against one." Hiruzen alleged. Inuyasha smirked as he leaned back on the chair.

"Sure, I'll fight one of your shinobi, bring them on!" Inuyasha challenged. Hiruzen smirked at the challenge.

"I see, well then in a week's time, you will fight against a shinobi of my choosing. If you win, then you'll be permitted to join our ranks as shinobi however, if you lose then you will join the academy students in learning the ways of the shinobi." Hiruzen stood and held his right hand out. "Agreed?"

Inuyasha's canine teeth became visible as he stood and shook Hiruzen's hand.

"You bet!" He said, applying a little more pressure than necessary to Hiruzen's hand. Returning the favor, Hiruzen let go then sat back down.

"So what of you Naruto?" Hiruzen asked.

"I know enough to be an average student. I was able to attend many villages' academy in my travels and learned enough. Though I gotta say, the academy in Kirigakure is insane! Did you know they expect you to kill your own classmates to graduate? Wait, that's not how it works here right?" Naruto asked, a bit fearful for his classmates. He was put to ease when Hiruzen shook his head.

"We do not do that, it's too barbaric in my opinion. At any rate, even if you do have an adequate knowledge, you still need to attend the academy, if only for formality." Naruto pouted but nodded his head. Inuyasha laughed loudly and pointed at him.

"Sucks for you!" He shouted through his laughter. Hiruzen coughed in his left hand again in a vain attempt to cover up his own laughter.

"Yes… well, if that is all, you may leave now. My secretary will call for a shinobi to escort you to your new homes soon." Standing up, Naruto and Inuyasha bowed and exited Hiruzen's office, both mumbling insults to each other as they did so.

After they left and closed the door, Hiruzen breathed out heavily and closed his eyes, taking a puff out of his pipe. Even after eight years of absence, Naruto still knew just what to do to cause a commotion.

"Kid still hasn't lost his touch eh old man?" Sarutobi didn't have to look back to know who spoke, the smell of cigarettes in the air was all that was need to identify the new comer. The sound of a lighter clicking and the smell of a freshly lit cigarette only further proved his guess. "Even when he only gets hurt, he still finds a way for the council to get involved and now… well you should already know how they're going to react to the news of his survival."

"I know Asuma, but what other choice do I have? I must inform them of his survival if I want him to attend the academy." Hiruzen turned to look at his rogue son. He found it hard to believe that his son came to visit for a simple 'hello'. They have had many arguments in the past, which led Asuma to join the Twelve Guardian Ninja before returning to Konoha for good. "So I suppose you aren't here for a simple hello are you?"

"Not really, just wanted to know how the meeting went; after all, you did start it without me." Asuma said. Hiruzen closed his eyes and replayed the meeting in his mind.

"We have not finished discussing; it was interrupted by Naruto and his _older brother_." Hiruzen recapped.

"So we still don't know who will get what genins?" Asuma asked. Hiruzen shook his head.

"No and now that Naruto has returned, I doubt it's going to get any easier. With him now entering the academy, it might change everything that's already been set up. Shikaku is right about being Hokage; too troublesome." Asume gave a faint chuckle at his father before looking outside the window and into Konoha as he gave one last puff to his finished cigarette. Flicking it out of the window, Asume jumped onto the window sill and was about to jump out.

"If that's all…"

"Actually Asuma, there is one more thing I'd like you to do for me." Asuma cocked an eye brow at his father. "Not anytime soon but not too far into the future." Hiruzen turned around and faced his son with a sly smirk.

"What are you doing in a week?" Asuma cocked an eyebrow, wondering what exactly was going through his father's mind.

[*.*.*.*]

Inuyasha and Naruto slowly walked behind their shinobi escort in silence. Not wanting to start the glares of hatred, they decided to keep their hoods over their heads and deal with the odd looks the villagers gave them. For Naruto, they were a major improvement.

However besides the fact that they were not only subjected to odd stares, they were annoyed by their escort. Nothing about him was out of the ordinary except for his lopsided silver hair; mask over the bottom half of his face and his headband which was over his left eye.

Currently, his nose was stuck into the orange book he carried and seemingly saw the villagers walking in his way because he gracefully was able to avoid them with no problem. Again, it wasn't that that annoyed the two brothers; it was the fact that he ignored them and if he didn't, he'd play it off saying he hadn't heard them correctly or at all.

Naruto was trying to stop Inuyasha from beating Kakashi into next week, succeeding at first until they reached a decent sized apartment complex. Looking at it again, Naruto smiled when it was similar to his old apartment. However, it was a lot more… well kept and didn't have the words 'Monster' or 'Demon' spray painted on the side.

The sounds of a thud were heard as Naruto turned to see his brother on the floor, his left leg hanging in the air. Naruto's ears twitched to the left and he looked that way to see the silver haired jonin leaning against an electrical post. Momentarily looking up from his book to look at Naruto, who had taken off his hood, his only visible eye opened wide before relaxing and looking at him with a bored expression.

Naruto raised his right eyebrow while examining the jonin. It happened so fast that Naruto was starting to doubt that he had even looked surprised. He seemed pretty strong though, maybe even stronger than his older brother, if he were ever to take it serious. Another thing that caught Naruto's eye that spoke volumes of the jonin was the book he currently had in his hands. With a scowl, Naruto glared at the jonin.

"How do they allow you to read that stuff in public?" Naruto asked. Kakashi eyed him suspiciously before closing his book.

"How would you know anything about this book?" The jonin asked. Naruto looked away and 'hmph'ed.

"You don't need to know how I know. Anyways, that's not something that should be out in the open. Its obscene content and vulgar text should be kept away from young eyes." Naruto said with assurance. The silver haired jonin appeared in from of Naruto and his right eye was looking right into Naruto's left eye.

"That's how I feel too… so how do you know of its obscene content and vulgar text?" The jonin asked again. Naruto however didn't falter as he looked at the jonin in the eyes without fear or doubts.

"I have my ways." He said with a mischievous smirk. The jonin kept his gaze on him for another while before standing up straight and opening his book again.

"Well here's your keys; Hokage-sama said it's on the second floor, 216." Then, with a sigh, the silver haired jonin started to walk away, one hand on his book, one hand in the air as a form of good bye, and two eyes glued onto the pages of the book.

"Well, good luck with that and have a nice stay here in Konoha." The jonin then disappeared from sight after turning to the left onto a new street. Looking at him as he left, Naruto blinked multiple times before walking up the steps to the second floor. Inuyasha had stood long ago and followed after his younger brother.

After reaching the second floor and finding the room with the label '216', Naruto and Inuyasha stepped into the room and saw that it was empty. The small living room seemed sufficient enough to have two two-seated couches and a small table. The kitchen, which was to the right of the front door, had a refrigerator on the far left corner and a microwave to the left of it. The far right corner of the living room had a door, which by Naruto's guess, led to the bedrooms.

Naruto looked at his brother who walked into the apartment and smelt the air around him. Ignoring him, Naruto haphazardly threw his cloak into the living room and checked out the bedroom. After opening it, Naruto sweat dropped to see a medium sized bedroom and a door to the left leading to the bathroom. With a sigh, Naruto walked in but tripped over his feet when Inuyasha pushed him out of the way.

"Like hell I'm sleeping in this room with you." Inuyasha declared as he walked into the room for a better look. Naruto stood and quickly kicked his brother against the wall.

"Then you can sleep outside like the mutt you are!" Naruto yelled, his voice going a little deeper. Inuyasha recovered and growled.

"What'd you say?!" Inuyasha said in a loud voice, not yet yelling but just bordering it. Naruto got in his face and sucked in some air.

"You can sleep outside… like the mutt… YOU ARE!" Naruto yelled. Inuyasha snapped and grabbed Naruto's head and locked him in a headlock. Naruto struggled to free himself but he had no strength to get his older brother off him. Remembering something he learned from Kumo's academy, Naruto made a hand sign and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Inuyasha was surprised when he was suddenly surrounded by a cloud of smoke and it was until Naruto had kicked him out of the room and slammed the door shut that he figured out he had been had. Looking at the closed door, Inuyasha's sensitive ears heard laughter behind the door. Inuyasha growled loudly as he banged on the door.

"Open up, ya stupid kit!" Inuyasha yelled but all he heard was louder laughter.

"You said 'Like hell I'm sleeping in this room with you' and this way, you won't sleep in this room with me; we all win!" Naruto yelled in the safety of his new room. Inuyasha's vein popped out as he banged harder on the door.

"NARUTO!!!"

**

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Well, that's the end to my idea... it'll probably be a while till i update this story since i got about eight others to think about...**

**Aside from reviewing, i guess I got nothing left to say except that if your confused, then don't be shy and asked... so yeah, please review...**

**Next chapter: School days and first impressions...**

**Good luck with whatever and if you got a problem with me or one of my stories, please feel free to: Deal with it, Get over it or Choke on it!**


	2. Day One, First impressions

**Yo, chapter two's up now! yeah!!!!**

**Really don't know what to add except Danzo's a super freak beyond record... So enjoy the story...**

**Chapter 2: Day one; First impressions...**

**Disclamier: I don't own Naruto or Inuyasha...**

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As most kids his age who wanted to become a shinobi, Naruto had to go to the academy. Said academy taught the kids the ways of the shinobi and also of the many shinobi who have come before them and how they have either improved or impacted the shinobi way. The practice spars were only a bonus in Naruto's mind.

Now, Naruto was not like other kids, both mentally or physically and he knew that. He had been through so much for the first four years of his life, most of which would've completely destroyed the psyche of any normal child, maybe even that of an adult. However, Naruto had persevered past that and found a new life with his older brother who had saved him from his premature death.

At a time like this though, Naruto wondered who exactly the older brother was. Currently, his brother was arguing with a random villager who blamed him for bumping into him. Both still had their respective red and orange cloaks on with the hoods over their heads. They still received their share odd looks once in a while but still better than those of hatred and scorn.

Sighing as he stood on the tip of his toes, Naruto grabbed Inuyasha's ears from the outside of his hood and dragged him away, earning more looks of curiosity and of confusion. Naruto could only shake his head in shame as his older brother cursed him out in front of the entire crowd that walked past him. His patience wearing thin, Naruto growled as his brother's curses intensified.

"…stupid kit!" That was it, the straw that broke the camel's back. Using the strength given to him by his hanyō blood, Naruto turned around and tossed Inuyasha aside, landing just across the street and face first onto the concrete. Laughing at his brother's pain, Naruto continued his morning walk with his brother, or more like without him now that the older hanyō was knocked out.

As his laughter slowly came to an end, Naruto started to take note of his new home. Many of the villagers seemed decent enough, most looked like they were in paradise and then some. Even some stopped doing whatever it was they were doing to smile at him. Why at him, he had no idea but he waved to them as he passed by, not wanting to be rude. His nose twitched as it was suddenly assaulted by the smell of a dog; not only one but two.

Jumping to the side, Naruto was barely able to avoid the sudden gray flash that threatened to run him over. The gray flash stopped and the form of a small puppy was seen. Cocking an eyebrow, Naruto slowly back away from the puppy who was growling menacingly at him. Jumping to the safety of the roofs, Naruto laughed at the pup who tried to vainly chase after him. Walking away with the hollow victory, Naruto was confronted by a stranger about his size.

The stranger was wearing a dark gray coat with beige pants that stopped mid shin. Smirking under the fluff of his hood, the stranger got into an arrogant stance and pointed an accusing finger at Naruto.

"Who the hell are you and why do you smell like a stray fox?" The vein on Naruto's head popped out as someone he didn't know was treating him with such hostility.

"Who the hell wants to know?" Naruto retorted.

"Kiba. Kiba Inuzuka." Kiba answered.

"The hell do you smell like a wet mutt?" Naruto asked, smiling as he saw Kiba's priceless reaction to his question.

"That coming from a mangy fox like you! Who the hell are you anyways?" Kiba asked again.

"My name's Naruto Uzumaki; you'll do well to remember that. Now if you'll excuse me…" Naruto turned to walk away only to stop short when he saw the small pup from before snarling at him from the edge of the roof. "What the…"

"I see you already know Akamaru and by the looks of it, he seems to really like you." Kiba said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. Backing away from the pup, Naruto looked between Kiba and Akamaru.

"Just what do you want with me anyways?" Naruto barked in an annoyed tone. Kiba mocked a hurt expression.

"I just wanted to see what smelt so horribly, that's all! No need to get all defensive. Now, since I know what that smell is, I think eliminating that smell is in order." Without another warning, Kiba and Akamaru rushed after Naruto who dropped down on all fours and waited for the right moment to act. Seeing his egotistical smirk sickened Naruto; the fight had not even begun and the stupid mutt was already planning out a victory party. Seeing an opening, Naruto dodged Kiba's right claw swipe and pushed Kiba towards Akamaru who was still about a foot or two away from them.

With the new found momentum, Kiba couldn't stop quick enough to avoid running into Akamaru. Naruto laughed as he jumped away from the crash and into a nearby side walk. Not only had he gotten a good laugh, he also had a workout; not a good one but one nonetheless. Continuing his walk around the village, Naruto had to stop himself from running up to the playground a few meters in front of him. Being a wanderer, Naruto barely had a normal childhood; even though he hid his abnormal traits, Naruto was unable to play with other kids or on playgrounds while other kids were there.

Stopping to stare at the playground a little while longer, Naruto didn't see the towering walking bag in front of him. Only until his head connected with a hard item did his snap out of his trance and fell on his backside. With a simple word of complaint, Naruto opened his left eye and looked up. He then realized that his hood was knocked down and hurriedly put it over his head. Pulling it down extra hard, Naruto wanted to make sure it was secured over his head.

"Ne, watch where you're going!" A voice said as it sat up, holding her head in pain. Naruto stood up immediately and offered a hand to help but the girl he ran into slapped it away. "I don't need help getting up, just help getting my things!" The girl shouted as she shoved a strand of brown hair back in place behind her ear. Nodding, Naruto got down on his knees and picked up the girl's things.

Naruto was surprised to find that the girl only had weapons; weapons of different shapes and sizes. After placing the last kunai into the brown bag, Naruto grabbed the bag and handed it to the girl after she stood. Getting a hold of the back, the girl looked at Naruto and smiled.

"Thank you, by the way, the name's Tenten." Tenten said as her red chinese sleeveless shirt and teal pants flopped from a passing breeze. Nodding at her introduction, Naruto walked past her and waved his hand from over his head.

"Name's Naruto, I'll be seeing you around Tenten." Watching the young orange cloaked boy go, Tenten waved back then continued to make her way towards her home.

Naruto walked with a hidden smile, he was running into interesting people today and it was only eleven in the morning. Stopping to notice a boy sitting at the edge of the docks, Naruto tilted his head to the side when he saw the boy launch a medium sized fireball at the center of the lake in front of him. The heat radiating from the fireball evaporated the upper level of the lake's water and steam was seen floating around the ball of flame.

After it dispersed, the boy seemed to have sensed someone staring at him so he looked up and made eye contact with Naruto, or well he would if the hood wasn't hiding his eyes. The boy's ebony eyes looked through Naruto and then looked back at the middle of the lake, as if he hadn't seen Naruto. Naruto resisted the urge to laugh as he suddenly thought the boy's hair looked like the rear end of a chicken.

Shaking his head, Naruto walked on, knowing already that he didn't like the boy just as the boy didn't seem to like him. Although, he was interested in fighting him, seeing as he could do the fireball jutsu. His ears twitching at the smallest of sounds, Naruto looked behind him to see two girls ogling the chicken-butt haired boy.

Sweat dropping as he saw the drool fall from both girl's open mouths, Naruto walked up to the girls and waited for them to notice him. Unfortunately, it took longer than he figured it would. It was only until he cleared his throat did the girls snap out of their stupor and glared angrily at him.

"What do you want?" The blond asked rudely. The pink haired girl looked semi-angry though had a bit of hesitation in her glare. "Can't you see we're busy here?" The blond banshee continued.

"I was just wonder why you two just don't go down there and talk to the boy with the chicken-butt hair; you two afraid of him or something?" Naruto asked but flinched when the killing intent radiating from the two girls, though the one from the buble gum pink haired girl was a little stronger.

"Don't compare Sasuke-kun's beautiful hair to the butt of a chicken!" The blond yelled earning a nod from her pink haired friend. Placing her left hand on her hips and flipping her long blond hair as it passed her purple shirt, the girl pointed at him with her right index finger. "And if I ever hear you say that again, I'll make sure you'll live to regret it; right Sakura?" The girl said to a now known Sakura who blinked repetitively at being put on the spot. She shrank into herself before nodding.

"R-Right, what Ino said." Sakura stated. Naruto shook his head; it seemed to him that this girl was still inside her own personal shell. Such a sad sight as the girl was obviously pretty, but she didn't seem to have a mind or a voice of her own just yet. With another sigh, Naruto walked away, waving to them in a bored way.

"Whatever. See you two later… maybe." Ino and Sakura watched Naruto walked away before looking back at Sasuke who had disappeared. Frantically searching for him, Ino suddenly became enraged.

"Stupid boy; thanks to him, I don't see Sasuke anywhere. Come on Sakura, let's go find him." Ino said, dragging Sakura out of her chair and into a random direction. Sakura looked at the boy's retreating form before shaking away her stupor and helping Ino find Sasuke.

Jumping to the roof of a nearby building, Naruto hoped that he wouldn't run into anymore weirdos for at least the rest of the day. Looking at the sun in the sky, Naruto could tell it was a little over noon. His brother should be awake by now and off looking for him. Whether that was a good thing or not was something Naruto didn't focus on. What he did focus on however, was the fact that there were two other boys on the roof with him.

Both boys were looking at the clouds over them as they sat back on the bench. One had his hair in a ponytail that made it look like a pineapple. Besides that, there wasn't anything out of the ordinary of him. The one next to him was a bit chubby but also was nothing out of the ordinary.

The chubby boy seemed to sense Naruto's presence as he looked up at him before elbowing the other boy with his left arm. The other boy grunted as he was awakened from his sleep. He looked up with his right eye half closed and tried to rub the sleep out of his other eye. Smacking his lips a couple of times, the boy looked boringly at Naruto.

"What?" He asked after a moment of silence. Naruto shook his head.

"Nothing, just passing by. By the way, is there a boy named Sasuke who has hair that looks like a chicken's butt?" Naruto asked, wondering the oddest of things. Not exactly sure why, but he wanted to know for future reference. Chuckling, the pineapple headed boy leaned back on the bench.

"Yeah but I'd be careful about what I say about him when around girls, they tend to get offended and angered by that." The seemingly lazy boy answered.

"I get the impression that you don't like Sasuke." Naruto stated, earning a louder chuckle from the lazy boy.

"I guess but honestly, it's troublesome to complain about so I don't. You don't seem too fond of him either if the way you described his hair has anything to say about it." Naruto rubbed the back of his head with his right hand and chuckled sheepishly.

"I don't really know him yet or at all but I get the feeling we won't be the best of friends." Naruto said.

"If you don't know him yet then you must not be from here."

"Not in so many words but I guess you'd be right." Naruto said. "My name's Naruto by the way."

"I'm Shikamaru and that's Choji." Shikamaru said.

"Hey." Choji greeted with a smile.

"Well I guess I'll go now but I guess I'll be seeing you guys later." Without another word, Naruto jumped off the roof and onto another roof and continued to move forward. Stopping short in front of a pole, Naruto stared intently at the small insect climbing up the black pole. Not one to usually stop and look at the smaller things in life, Naruto watched as the ant made it to the top only to disappear into the hole leading to the inside of the building.

"I'm sure the people inside are not going to like him in there." Naruto commented.

"I would not be surprised." Naruto turned on his heels to see a boy wearing a light blue jacket that had his collar over the lower half of his face. Though he could not see his eyes because of the sunglasses, Naruto knew the new comer was giving him a calculating look.

"How so?" Naruto asked.

"Not many people like insects, let alone them entering their homes. So when you stated that the owners of this building would not like the insect in their building, I simply stated that I would not be surprised." The boy said.

"Really now, well not much left to do about that. I guess they'll have to deal with it." Naruto said as he walked off and jumped down to the sidewalk. As he started to walk around some more, Naruto knew he was going to run into one or two more people before he ran into his brother. Hoping to get a normal person, Naruto hadn't seen a red blur flash behind him.

[*.*.*.*]

Hinata ducked under the open palm sent to her head and tried to sweep the feet of her opponent though her opponent saw it coming. Her opponent jumped into the air with a twist and extended her right leg out. Not quick enough to block or dodge, Hinata took the force of the kick head on as it connected with her left cheek. Spiraling in the air from the momentum, Hinata landed on the padded floor with a dull thud as her opponent landed in a graceful position.

Falling into her battle stance, Hinata's opponent watched intently as Hinata struggled to stand. Tasting the copper in her mouth and ignoring it, Hinata willed her body to stand.

"That's enough Hinata." Hinata and her opponent looked to the side to see an older man with his arms crossed over his chest. He had a stoic expression with a traditional kimono for the Hyuga clan. His white eyes pierced Hinata as she knew she had let her father down. "Well done Hanabi." Hanabi, Hinata's opponent, walked to his side and bowed to him.

"Thank you father." Hanabi said as her father nodded at her. Looking at his other daughter, Hiashi could only sigh in disappointment. How would anyone really react to their eldest daughter losing a fight against their youngest daughter? Such a thing was not acceptable in the Hyuga clan and if his daughter didn't improve anytime soon, something horrible will happen to her and her future.

"I-I'm sorry F-Father." Hinata said as he stood, moving side to side as she tried to find her equilibrium.

"It is alright Hinata. You seem to be having an off day so you may go rest." Hinata nodded and bowed before wobbly leaving the training area inside the Hyuga compound. She went into her bathroom and spat the blood in her mouth into the sink. Turning on the water, Hinata thought about herself as she watched the blood mix with the water and swirl down the drain.

She was tired of being looked down upon; seen as the incompetent and weak young girl she was known for. Throughout her life she had been forced to take on her family's noble name. However, she had never been able to live up to it. The shy and meek personality that she had prevented her from being the promising Heir and daughter she knew her father wanted. And to her father, she was always the source of his disappointment.

As her tears mixed in with her blood and water, Hinata turned off the faucet and wiped away her tears. She was a failure; she knew it. She was hopeless; she accepted it. She was never going to be happy; she knew this. Fate had a hand in her life and as such, took away everything that would have brought her happiness. Ever since her mother left, her father grew cold and distant. Only thing that brought joy to him was his clan's and daughter's achievements. However since she could not live up to his standards, he's been a lot stricter than ever.

"Such a pitiful sight." Hinata looked back and saw her cousin stoically looking at her. The only emotions seen in his eyes were of hatred and disgust. "The heiress of the prestigious and coveted Hyuga clan was defeated by her younger sister; how embarrassing. Such a thing is unacceptable and demeaning to your clan and to yourself." Neji, her cousin, closed his eyes and walked away but not before saying a few last words.

"You should run away; that's the least you could do to lessen the shame of the Hyuga Clan." The hurtful and, in her mind, truthful words Neji spoke of rang in her head like a giant bell on top of the highest tower. More tears streamed down her cheeks and she staggered to her room, ready to do as her cousin had advised; run away.

"I-I… I won't be a burden… n-not anymore." She said to herself as she packed up her clothes and sentimental items, such as the last thing her mother bought her. As she walked over to put her stuff into a bag, she started to think. She knew she had no reason to stay. Her family obviously hated her, Kurenai would probably rejoice in not having to tutor a weak and hopeless cause like herself and she knew her classmates wouldn't remember her.

With her things packed and on her back, Hinata opened her window and jumped on the window sill. Taking one last look, Hinata jumped out and mentally bade farewell to her home, family, old life and apologized to her mother for being so weak. Landing gracefully on the front lawn, inata began her trek; to where? Only Kami knew.

[*.*.*.*]

Naruto hid under a bridge as a green blur suddenly flew past him. Sighing, Naruto was glad to rid himself of the green blur known as Lee. He had found Lee hitting a log multiple times at a training spot, switching from right leg to left leg. Lee had an odd sense of style in Naruto's opinion. He had a bowl cut style black hair and eyebrows as big as a caterpillar, maybe bigger. And the green jumpsuit, such an odd boy indeed.

Naruto started to look around and spotted a large clock right outside an antique store. Naruto's eyes widened as wide as saucers when he realized it took him three hours to lose Lee. He didn't even know he had that much stamina; incredible. It was nearly four in the afternoon and half his day was gone. He sighed as he wondered if accepting Lee's offer to spar would've taken a lot less time.

Pouting, Naruto walked into the nearest food stand and sat down. He looked up and saw a girl working from behind the counter. She seemed about three or four years older than him and had chocolate brown hair. As he waited for the girl to notice him, Naruto began to think back on his day.

'_Very interesting place.'_ Naruto thought as he spun around in his chair. Looking at the passing crowd outside the food stand, Naruto noticed that there were a lot of pretty girls in Konoha but none really caught his eye. Nothing about them made them stand above the rest; not their curves, hair or eyes. All were pretty but nothing more than that.

He sighed deeply and sadly, though it was not like it mattered anyways, because of his 'unique' traits, not one girl will look at him with admiration for the fluffiness of his tails and ears but not genuine love or admiration.

Out of nowhere, his sense of smell was assaulted by lavender, vanilla and a little bit of copper as his ears and tail tensed up. He had smelt this scent before though he couldn't recognize whose it was. Looking left and right, Naruto tried to find the owner of this scent. For some reason, not knowing whose scent this was drove Naruto crazy.

Finding that the scent was too weak to track from his seat, Naruto stood and walked around outside the food stand, desperate to find the person with the lavender scent. He growled angrily as other people's scents were starting to blend with the lavender's scent. Smelling high and low, it annoyed Naruto to no end to know that the scent was still out of his grasp. He didn't give up though, he moved past the crowd as he followed a trail that had the stronger scent of lavender.

He smirked as he jumped onto a tree to get a bird's eye view of the situation. He looked at the direction of where he last smelled the scent and saw a girl with short midnight blue hair, a dirt green backpack on her back, a tan sweater with a clan symbol on her left shoulder and dark navy pants that stopped at her mid-shin.

"That girl… who is she?" Naruto asked no one in particular. He shrugged it off as he jumped down and walked towards her. Then he realized something, she had a backpack on, which is odd since she lived here unless…

'_She's running away.'_ Naruto thought as he hurried his pace up a bit. He should've seen it before just by her posture alone, it basically yelled it. He eyed the direction she was going in before dropping in all fours, knowing he could run faster that way. It didn't take him long to reach her but another blur intercepted him and to the girl, it only seemed like a strong breeze passed her.

Rolling to a stop about ten meters away from the girl, Naruto glared at his attacker, only to sweat drop.

"Lee! What the hell?!" Naruto yelled and Lee got off him.

"Oh come on, please spar with me!" Lee begged as he was on his hands and knees. Naruto looked at him oddly and wondered how wise it was moving back to Konoha. He shook his head and dusted the dirt off of his cloak.

"Sorry Lee but I'm kind of busy. Tomorrow." Naruto said before walking away, leaving a confused Lee behind.

"Tomorrow what?!" Lee yelled.

"I'll spar with you tomorrow, I promise!" Naruto yelled back, earning a gleeful cheer from Lee. Naruto searched again for the girl but didn't see her. Sniffing the air, he noticed that it was so faint that he could barely notice it. Deciding to travel to where he last saw her head to, Naruto sighed and held his head in his hands. He knew he wouldn't be in this predicament if his brother didn't want to live in Suna.

Naruto was able to sneak past the guards and sniffed the fresh air of the forest right outside the village. He missed that smell but he knew now was not the time to enjoy the scenery as he picked up the girl's scent again. He ran on all fours as he found the girl's scent travelling all over the place. Either she didn't want anyone to find her or she was very drunken and walking all over the place.

Naruto hoped for the former, though he couldn't completely say he wasn't hoping for the latter.

Shaking away all perverse thoughts, Naruto decided to follow the closest scent and ended up at the far south side of the village. The trail ended at a giant tree near the edge of a cliff about ten feet off the ground. He looked up the tree but didn't see anything. He grunted as he leaned back and felt uncomfortable. It didn't take him long to figure out that he wasn't leaning against a tree when the 'tree' "eep"ed after Naruto brushed his hand on a bump behind him.

He jumped forward and turned around to see a very red girl who was holding her right breast. Naruto looked at her hand and then at his, returning to her and then back at his hand. He then blushed just as badly as she did when the wires in his mind finally connected…

He just groped her.

Naruto turned his whole body around and looked at his right hand. He mentally scolded himself for groping the girl though the side of him congratulating him far outweighed the scolding side. Hinata though was also in an internal struggle. She felt violated a little though she couldn't blame him since he didn't see her because of her camouflage jutsu and another side of her… actually liked it when he touched her there. He blushed darkened and she shook those thoughts out of her head.

"I'm sorry." Hinata heard as she looked up and saw Naruto looked at her with a faint blush.

"I-It's ok. Y-you couldn't h-have known I-I was there." Hinata said with her stuttering bothering her to no end.

"Yeah… how'd you do that anyways?" Naruto asked. Hinata started playing with her fingers as she looked down.

"I-It's the c-camouflage j-jutsu. M-My father taught it t-to me… once." Hinata answered solemnly. Naruto looked at her oddly with a calculating stare.

"Uhm…" Hinata looked up and noticed that he was studying her for some reason. "Hinata-chan!" He yelled, making Hinata jump back.

"W-What?"

"That's your name, Hinata! I forgot your name but not your face. Good, now that I remember it, I won't be bothered by trying to remember it... eh, if that makes sense." Naruto said. Hinata frowned and felt her confidence plummet.

"S-So you followed me a-all the way o-out here… j-just because I-I looked familiar to y-you and you wanted t-to remember my name?" Hinata asked, wondering if he was going to leave now since he now knows who she is.

"Well, when you put it that way… kind of makes me sound stupid." Naruto admitted sheepishly while rubbing the back of his head with his right hand. Hinata gasped and bowed her head.

"I-I'm sorry, I-I didn't mean to." Hinata apologized, hating herself for making the cloaked boy feel bad. Naruto however sweat dropped at her antics.

"It's ok." Naruto then walked over to Hinata and smiled at her. "I never thanked you yesterday for showing me and my brother around did I?" Naruto asked as he closed his eyes. Hinata shook her head and said nothing more. Naruto opened his eyes and tilted his head to the right side. "What's wrong?"

"I-I… Nothing." Hinata answered with hesitation and doubt. Naruto got closer to Hinata's face to get a closer look at a better angle. Blinking, Hinata's blush returned with a vengeance; she's never been this close to a boy before. It then occurred to her that she could finally get a better look at the cloaked boy too.

The first thing Hinata noticed was his cobalt eyes. So deep and full of emotions; Hinata thought she could drown in them. The second thing she noticed was that the boy's pupils were slit; similar to those of a cat or a fox. She found it a bit odd but she really couldn't judge seeing as her clan's dōjutsu made her pupil less. Setting her sights lower, Hinata also took note that he had three marks going across each cheek, identical to an animal's whiskers.

Naruto, meanwhile, was also taking note of Hinata's features. Her lavender eyes showed years of happiness and innocence but also of an equal amount of sadness and sorrow.

'_Such a delicate being of innocence has been through so much hardships…'_ Naruto thought to himself as he remembered being told the very same thing years ago by a random old man. Her whole facial structure made her seem pretty, even, dare he think, beautiful. Her creamy cheeks that was tainted with a hint of pink looked soft to Naruto.

Taking a step back, Naruto smiled fondly at her.

"I know I'm going to like you already." Naruto said innocently with a thumbs up. Hinata got even more uncomfortable as she twiddled her two index fingers together. "Anyways, you still haven't told me what's wrong." Naruto stated. Hinata's eyes looked at the ground, then to the sky; anywhere but at Naruto.

"I-It's nothing, really." Naruto kept looking at her, knowing she was lying. However, he knew he couldn't pester since he didn't really know Hinata all that well; he couldn't expect her to open up so soon. Naruto suddenly smiled as an idea formed in his mind. Careful not to hurt her, Naruto gently grabbed Hinata's hand and started to pull her towards the village. Hinata looked at hers and Naruto's intertwined hands with a darker blush and felt her heart skip a beat.

"W-Where… where are you t-taking me?" Hinata asked. Naruto looked back at her and smiled.

"Not sure but we're about to find out!" Naruto said with his normal enthusiasm. Hinata gulped, wondering what Naruto meant but other than that, she didn't say a word as she let him drag her into the village. As the village's front gates came into view, Hinata stomped her feet onto the ground to stop her and Naruto from continuing any further. Naruto looked back at her with concern.

"I'm sorry Takun-san, but I can't go back to Konoha, not after what I've done." Hinata said with assurance and unwavering determination.

"Takun? The hell kind of name- oh yeah, I told you that was my name." Naruto said with annoyance at himself. Using this momentary distraction to her advantage, Hinata forced her hand free from Naruto's grip and took a few steps back.

"W-Whether that is your name or not i-is not the case. I'm still not going back to Konoha." Hinata then bowed and said goodbye, after which she turned heels and walked down the trail leading away from Konoha. Naruto ran up to her and walked in pace with her on her left side, though she had her eyes closed and her head down so he would get the idea that she didn't want to talk and she wanted him to be certain of that.

"Why not? Did something happen?" Naruto asked.

"I-If you want me to talk, t-then you s-should p-properly introduce yourself." Hinata stated. Naruto sighed as he closed his eyes.

"You're right, sorry." Naruto paused to take in a sharp breath. "My name's actually Naruto Uzumaki, now can you please tell me what's bothering you?" He asked. Hinata looked at him before looking in front of her.

"N-Nothing. Now i-if you're satisfied, I-I would like to b-be alone." Hinata said as she picked up her pace. Though, Naruto easily caught up to her.

"That's bull! I'm sure something else is bothering you." Nartuo continued, stubborn to get his answers. For the first time since the young, ex-heiress could remember, she glared; specifically, at Naruto.

"I'm sorry to say this but right now, you're bothering me." She said with an annoyed tone. Naruto could hear the biting tone in her voice but refused to give up. Spending seven plus years with his older brother really rubbed off on him.

"Hey, I'm just trying to help you out but instead you're acting all stubborn! What happened that's making you get angry?!" Naruto said, his voice starting to get louder. Hinata immediately stopped walking and was looking at the ground with her bangs covering her eyes. Naruto stopped soon after and noticed how thick and intense the air around them suddenly got but he refused to back down.

"You want to know what's bothering me?! My family hates me and sees me as the failure I truly am!" Hinata yelled, tears spilling from her eyes. Blinking repetitively, Naruto was shocked and looked at her with disbelief. "I was never able to amount to anything or reach my father's expectations which caused me to be the outcast of the Hyuga clan and shunned by my classmates." Hinata continued before chuckling mirthlessly.

"But I don't expect you to understand, you're probably accepted by everyone you've ever met." Naruto almost felt like laughing right there and then; oh the irony of it all was definitely sickening.

"You'd think so but the truth is that I've always been the outsider in every place I've ever been to." Naruto said mirthlessly. Hinata looked at him as she wiped the tears away from her right eye.

"U-Unless you have h–horns growing out o-of you head, I-I don't think you're worse off t-than me." Hinata said as her tears died down. Deciding to show her how wrong she was instead just telling her, Naruto removed his hood and sighed in content when he felt his ears freely twitch in random directions. Hinata at first wondered why he pulled down his hood until she saw his golden fox ears twitch uncontrollably.

Hinata eyes widened as wide as saucers as she slowly reached up and touched his right ear. As soon as she made contact with it, the ear twitched away from her hand like any animals would, making Hinata retract her left hand back to her side.

"S-Sorry." She apologized with a faint blush but it only made Naruto laugh.

"It's ok; you can try to touch it again if you want." Naruto said as he brought his head down so Hinata could get a better reach. Hinata extended her left hand again and started to rub the front and back of his ear. She enjoyed the softness of his furry fox ears so much that she reached up and touched his other ear with her other hand. To her, it felt like she was touching a teddy bear that was very well taken care of.

Naruto tried to hold it in but after she started using both hands, Naruto couldn't help but purr at the softness and delicacy of Hinata's hands on his ears. Hinata stifled a giggle but couldn't help but giggle loudly when she saw Naruto blush at his own actions. She then noticed something moving behind him. While still grasping his ears, Hinata looked behind Naruto and saw a golden fox tail with a black tip, not unlike his ears, wagging happily and excitedly.

Unable to control herself, Hinata let go of Naruto's ears and wrapped Naruto's fox tail in a bear hug. She heard Naruto laugh and her immediate response was to blush and bury her face in his tail from embarrassment.

"S-Sorry but… it's so c-cute and fluffy." Hinata said, trying to excuse her actions. Her blushed only got worse when Naruto's laughter grew louder.

"It's ok; I was kind of expecting you to do that." Naruto replied but then his expression became serious. Using his tail to force Hinata in front of him, he looked into Hinata's eyes with such intensity that she felt herself getting lost in his eyes.

"Look, I might not know you all that well but I don't think you should be running away from your problems just because you think you're a failure."

"B-But I-"

"No 'but's, you are not a failure. I can't honestly tell you how I know, but all I do know is that you're not." Naruto then grabbed Hinata's hand again, this time making sure she wouldn't free herself like last time, and started to pull her back to Konoha.

"B-But I d-don't want to go b-back… n-not to the place w-where no one c-cares about me or would miss me if I-I'm gone." Hinata stated sadly. Naruto's ears momentarily drooped but then rose up high as his grip tightened a bit.

"That's not true…" Naruto looked back at Hinata with an eye smile and pointing a thumb at himself with his free hand. "I'd miss you." Naruto ended. Hinata looked at him with disbelief before smiling warmly and closing her eyes.

"T-Thank you."

"You're welcome." They said nothing more as they walked back to Konoha, hand in hand, smile plastered on both faces. Before entering, Naruto put his hood over his ears. Hinata asked why he did that and he answered her by stating that he would not like to be run out of his new home already just because of his appearance. However, before they could reach the gates, Naruto was assaulted by his older brother.

[*.*.One Week Later.*.*]

Holding his head down in shame, Naruto had to resist leaving his brother where he stood as he argued with a jonin who had asked him if he was sick in the head. Having seen Inuyasha's dog ears, the jonin watching over his fight with a shinobi of the Hokage's choice had thought Inuyasha was either insane or a bad prankster.

Luckily, the jonin was quick enough to avoid Inuyasha's quick swipes, making him drop the issue of his ears and letting him enter a stadium that was used for an exam of sorts. Looking around, Inuyasha and Naruto were left in 'awe' at the spacious stadium. Both hanyō's ears twitched as a puff of smoke filled the fighting area of the stadium, surrounding Naruto and Inuyasha.

After it was cleared, Naruto and Inuyasha's eyes sprang open as wide as saucers. Standing in front of them was the hokage, two ANBU which were kneeling besides the old man and about five jonin standing behind the old man and his ANBU. One was the odd jonin they met the day before; lopsided silver hair and all. The other four were a mystery to Naruto and Inuyasha.

"So," began Hiruzen. "I see you made it; how amusing." The way he said that made the hairs in the back of Naruto's and Inuyasha's neck stand at attention. While Inuyasha didn't outwardly express it, Naruto could only shiver as the old man smiled. Looking at both ANBU, Hiruzen nodded his head and both disappeared.

"Are you prepared to face your opponent Inuyasha?" Hiruzen asked and Inuyasha nodded in a bored manner. Hiruzen mentally sneered; knowing now where Naruto got his rude manners. "I see, Asume Sarutobi," Asuma, a man with brown hair and beard, stepped out from the other four jonins and lazily puffed his cigarette. Taking one last deep breath, he threw the cigarette butt on the floor and stomped it off. Putting his left hand in his pocket, Asuma sluggishly waved at Inuyasha and Naruto.

"Yo." The lazy jonin greeted. Inuyasha didn't bother replying, he just wanted to get the pointless fight over with.

"Hold on Inuyasha, I do have some stipulations that I want you to be aware of." Hiruzen mentioned as he stood between his son and Inuyasha. Inuyasha growled but didn't show any other signs of objections. Clearing his throat, Hiruzen began to explain the rules.

"First; you are fighting with the intention to kill, however, I don't want any deaths. Hayate will stop the match when he or I see fit. No 'if's, 'and's, 'or's 'but's about it. Second; if you succeed in defeating Asuma, you will be granted entrance into our ranks. If you lose, you will attend the academy with young Naruto here." The five jonins stifled a chuckle as Inuyasha growled.

"Do we have an understanding?" Hiruzen asked and Inuyasha smiled confidently along with Naruto.

"Yeah, I get it." Inuyasha answered. Hiruzen nodded his head and walked away from the group.

"Everyone but Hayate, Asuma and Inuyasha, follow me to the stands." Naruto wished his brother good luck before following Hiruzen and the other jonins up some stairs. Inuyasha watched his brother leave and then at his opponent. As lazy as he seemed, he also looked like he could kill Inuyasha without hesitation.

"Alright, you two separate; one on the left side of the field, the other on the right." Asuma and Inuyasha both complied as they walked to the opposite ends of the stadium.

Up in the stands, Naruto sat next to Hiruzen as the jonins stood behind them. Hiruzen looked at Naruto curiously as he kept all his focus on Asuma. His eyes narrowed as he seemed be calculating him.

"Naruto." Free from his concentration, Naruto looked at Hiruzen. "What's on your mind?"

"Nothing, just looking at Asuma-san." Naruto's focus then returned to Asuma. "He… he's planned something out." Naruto continued mysteriously. Hiruzen, as well as the other jonins who were listening, wondered what exactly he meant. However, before they could ask, Hayate's voice filled the entire stadium.

"Alright, you both heard Hokage-sama's stipulation, abide by them and no one will be harm- I'm sorry, killed." Hayate said with a sick smile. Inuyasha though was far from intimidated. "Now, if you're both ready, we will begin!"

* * *

**Phew, that was long... Hope ya liked it!**

**So yeah, I added a small Naruhina mom****ent just for the hell of it... I mean come on, it's me we're talking about...**

**Also, I'd like to give thanks to everyone who reviewed, Favorited and story alerted this story... It good to know that I'm not wasting my time with a story that no one reads...**

**Anyways, yeah, if Kishimoto doesn't do something about Hinata's confession, I'm writing a one-shot about torturing Naruto... Whether it being no more ramen anywhere or something worse... And if there's anyone who feels the same and wants to share ideas, I'd like to hear some, though not at the moment... Just after new years....**

**Next chapter: Win or Lose? Back to the Academy...**

**Good luck with whatever and if you got a problem with me or one of my stories, please feel free to: Deal with it, Get over it or Choke on it!**


	3. Win or Lose? Back to the Academy

**So I'm back with a new chapter of Trials of the Hanyō Brothers and I gotta say, I like the ending... Also, I went a little deep with this chapter and I tried to put a lot of emotion into this though I don't think I did a great job...**

**Either way, enjoy the story!**

**Chapter 3: Win or Lose? Back to the Academy...**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto!**

* * *

Under the sun's unlimited supply of heat and luminosity, everyone in the Exams Stadium remained silent, not wanting to break the concentrations of the fighters down below. Even the proctor, Hayate who was currently coughing a lung, did so quietly.

Not surprisingly, Inuyasha was the one to start things off. With a burst of speed, he jumped into the air and attempted to punch the jonin in front of him in the face. Asuma blocked it with his left forearm and was surprised by the impact Inuyasha's fist gave him. Asuma took a few steps back from the momentum of Inuyasha's attack and was left open to attack.

Not one to let an opportunity to pass him by, Inuyasha turned around and kicked Asuma in his stomach. Asuma was sent in the air but recovered in the air as he flipped back once before landing neatly on his feet.

'_He's fast.'_ Both Sarutobis thought concurrently. Shaking off the hits, Asuma charged at Inuyasha and lazily ducked under his left fist and brought his knee up. It connected with Inuyasha's stomach, making him double over and giving Asuma a chance to strike his face multiple times. One punch to his right cheek, another to his left cheek, an elbow to his solar plex and a quick jab to his chin.

Inuyasha flew into the air and landed a few feet away from Asuma. Asuma smirked, thinking it was over but was surprised to see him stand up without a problem. Usually, after a devastating combo like that, anyone else would either be knocked out or have trouble sitting up, let alone stand. Asuma grunted annoyingly as he took out his trench knives and secured them on both hands. Inuyasha cracked his knuckles as he grinned sadistically; he was ready to continue the fight. However, to Naruto's surprise, it was Asuma who continued the match.

Running towards Inuyasha, Asuma pumped his charka into his trench knives and brought his fist up like a boxer would. Inuyasha growled as he decided to meet Asuma half way. Dropping to the ground on all fours, Inuyasha avoided Asuma's right hook and swept his feet from under him. Asuma recovered quickly and dodged a claw swipe from Inuyasha's right claw. Asuma ducked under a right jab and sent one of his own jabs on Inuyasha's gut. With the trench knives still on his right hand, Asuma smirked when Inuyasha scowled in pain. Separating him from Asuma, Inuyasha held his abdomen for a few seconds before charging at Asuma again.

Asuma noticed that no blood seeped through his clothes or that the wound itself was hindering on his movements, strength and speed. As he continued to trade blows with Inuyasha, he could only wonder who exactly he was facing.

Seeing the length of the knives, Inuyasha mentally calculated how far he had to move to avoid being cut. Coming face to face with Asuma, Inuyasha smirked when he tiled his head to the left when Asuma aimed to cut his head. His smirk vanished when he felt the knives cut his cheek. Grabbing it in surprise and putting some distance between the two, Inuyasha growled.

"How were you still able to cut me, I avoided your blade!" Inuyasha barked and grew more annoyed by Asuma's own grin.

"By feeding my chakra into my knives, I increased the length and density of the blade by chakra alone. It's very complicated and not to mention hard to accomplish but hey, if I was able to pull it off, it shouldn't be that complicated." Asuma answered with a nonchalant shrug. His eyes widened for a second before relaxing at seeing Inuyasha's cheek; there was no scratch on him!

"Tch, well you'll need much more than that if you want to be able to stand up against me!" Charging again, Inuyasha swerved through Asuma's defenses and punched him in the gut, sending him back some. Asuma grimaced as he adjusted to the impact of Inuyasha's attack. His strength was insane! The force of the hit was incredible and if Asuma didn't know any better, Inuyasha seemed to have held back. Whatever the case, he didn't want to be hit again.

Gathering his bearings, Asuma traded blows with Inuyasha whose speed matched Asuma's easily. Asuma cursed when another thought came into his mind; the guy wasn't even fighting/defending himself with a weapon. Normally, such a thing was idiotic considering his trench knives or any other similar weapon could easily penetrate skin and draw blood but this guy…

'_What is he up to?'_ Asuma thought as he blocked Inuyasha's kick with his right forearm. Grabbing it with his right hand, Asuma swung diagonally and successfully left a grand cut on Inuyasha's chest, starting from his left hip to his right shoulder. Inuyasha staggered back and held on to his chest with both hands, groaning at the pain. Asuma used this to his advantage and charged at him again. Cocking his right fist slightly back, Asuma planned on ending the fight right away.

Smirking, Inuyasha swerved his body to the left; narrowly missing Asuma's thrust and grabbed his arm. Asuma's eyes widened, expecting Inuyasha to have been stun long enough for him to make the deciding blow. Using his momentum against him, Inuyasha pulled on Asuma's arm and spun him around before letting him go, with his back slamming against the stadium's wall.

Asuma shook his head as he jumped out of the crater he created on the stadium's wall. Brushing all the debris off his shoulders, Asuma stared at Inuyasha with amusement and respect though not before looking at him with confusion. His chest clearly showed no signs of wounds, the only thing that assured Asuma that he connected with his trench knives were his shirt being cut.

"I would've thought that you'd be stunned long enough for me to end this." Asuma commented, rolling the knots out of his shoulder. Inuyasha scoffed at his statement while crossing his arms over his chest.

"It's going to take a lot more than a petty cut to stun me. If you hold out on me then you're going to lose." Inuyasha warned him. Asuma smirked and made quick hand signs.

"Good to know… **Fire Style: Combustion Ash Cloud Jutsu!**" Asuma yelled as he sucked in a deep breath and blew a super heated cloud of ash that covered the entire area. Inuyasha only smirked as he let the cloud of ash envelope him. Asuma, unsure of what to make of Inuyasha's smile, clicked his teeth together and set the cloud ablaze.

Up with the Hokage, Naruto and other jonins, they were already intrigued with the fight. Hiruzen, who along with the other jonins had been surprised by Inuyasha speed and strength, smiled at his son decided to take Inuyasha seriously. Looking down at the supposed brother of Inuyasha, Hiruzen wondered what exactly was going on in Naruto's mind. He was smiling as his brother's body blended in with the cloud of combustible ash; his brother's health was at serious risk. The best case scenario from here on was that Inuyasha got third degree burns and maybe completely obliterated clothes.

Naruto even started to chuckle when the cloud of ash exploded so violently that it shook the stadium to its core.

"Naruto." Naruto looked up in confusion after stifling his laugh. "Why are you laughing?" Naruto's smile returned as he closed his eyes.

"Aniki is having fun." Naruto said; plain and simple. "Don't you see it?" He asked as he diverted Hiruzen's and the other jonin's attention back to the fight. The stadium was filled the dust kicked up from the explosion. The center of the dust swirled before it was blown away. Standing right in the middle of the stadium was Asuma with his hands in his pockets. He looked around before he snarled; there was no sign of Inuyasha.

"That was no fun." Asuma stated idly as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"Oh it's not over yet!" Asuma, caught off guard, was surprised to feel an impact against the back of his head. He was sent forward and flipped across the terrain until he lost his momentum and stopped with a foot implanted on the ground. He panted heavily as his vision blurred. Whatever had hit him felt like running head first into a running freight train. Shaking off his daze, he looked up and barely made out the image of a red clothed Inuyasha.

Inuyasha smiled as he crossed his arms over his chest victoriously.

"So much for you; you look like you're barely able to stand, let alone fight me." Asuma was surprised after seeing Inuyasha have not a scratch or burn on him. Even if he had been quick enough to escape the cloud of ash before it combusted, he should at least have some kind of burn. But no, he stood in front of him with no signs of fatigue or injury. The only reason Asuma was panting so deeply was because of the hit. That impact of the hit… what the hell was he fighting anyways? No way in hell was a man supposed to be this naturally strong.

From what his father told him, Inuyasha had no shinobi training and didn't even know the term 'Chakra' or how to use it. So naturally, Asuma assumed that this fight was not only going to be a waste of time but effortless. He even planned on throwing the fight at the first signs of Inuyasha's weakness. Now, here he was, panting heavily on one knee while Inuyasha looked ready to run a marathon.

"Who… are you?" Asuma asked breathlessly.

"The name's Inuyasha, that's about all you need to know." Inuyasha answered. He rolled his neck, earning a few cracks from his neck and sighed. "Now get up, I haven't even started yet and you're already winded." Inuyasha said as he bent his knees and had his arms in a defensive position. Asuma stood and immediately threw his trench knives at Inuyasha like they were kunai knives.

Inuyasha lazily moved past them and headed for Asuma who after throwing the trench knives made the snake hand sign.

"**Wind Style: Verdant Slipstream Jutsu!**" Inuyasha wondered what the was supposed to do. Seeing as nothing happened, he ignored it and ran towards Asuma again until he felt two sharp items bury themselves into his quadriceps. He staggered as he came to a smart stop. Looking down, he saw the trench knives Asuma through in his legs. Growling, Inuyasha basically ripped the two knives out of his legs before clutching them in his hands and effortlessly crushing them.

Everyone who had just saw this had their eyes wide open in disbelief, everyone excluding Naruto. While they themselves could not be considered artisans, they did know crushing something like Asuma's trench knives effortless just as Inuyasha had done was no easy feat. Even using chakra to toughen their skin and make them stronger was something that would put a strain on any shinobi. But this… this… they didn't even know what to call Inuyasha or what to classify him as. He was simply not human.

Inuyasha chuckled at Asuma's expression; it was so hilarious in his mind.

"Don't worry, after I beat you senseless, I'll get you a new toy to play with." Inuyasha mocked, breaking Asuma out of his astonished daze and angering him.

"That man, he just shattered Asuma's trench knives as if it were nothing more than chopsticks." One jonin remarked and after turning around, Naruto saw that it was the same jonin from the other week.

"Incredible! Doing such a thing is an impressive feat. It appears there is more to him than just appearance." Another jonin added. This one was a female and had long, black hair with the reddest eyes Naruto has ever seen. She looked beautiful yet deadly at the same time; someone Naruto did not want to anger.

"I wonder what he's done to acquire such strength." Now this one left Naruto in deep thought. The jonin who commented just now had the oddest sense of style and now that he thought about it, he reminded Naruto of Lee. Either Lee started off the trend of green jumpsuits, huge eye brows and a bowl style hair cut or this guy did. Either way, Naruto wondered if it was a passing trend… if so, then he hoped it'd pass away real soon.

"In any case, I really want to know where he got those ridiculous ears from and why he decided to wear them to a fight." The silver haired jonin said.

"It's bad enough Asuma's losing to someone with absolutely no shinobi training, but one who wears a preposterous costume to the fight." The woman said in disdain.

"Hey! Don't talk about my brother like I'm not even here you jerks! And who cares if he's wearing dog ears, he'd still be able to beat all three of you up, no problem!" Naruto yelled in defense for his brother. All three looked at Naruto oddly before they tried to suppress a laugh. "What?! It's true!"

"Sorry kid but I find that hard to believe. Even though he is giving Asuma a hard time, that's only because Asuma underestimated him to the point where he dropped his guard numerous times. Now that we know how strong he really is, we wouldn't make the same mistake." The woman answered with conviction. The other two nodded in agreement. Naruto growled but let it go; it would not do picking a fight with jonins who could easily take him out.

"Tch, whatever." Naruto sat down in his chair and watched his brother trade blows with Asuma. With his trench knives laying uselessly in pieces, Asuma had to resort to normal taijutsu and ninjutsu. Not one to make the same mistake twice, Asuma started to take Inuyasha seriously. However, no matter how many times he landed a hit or evaded Inuyasha's blows, Inuyasha still had that grin on his face.

Asuma spun on his heel and extended his leg out, making Inuyasha fall on his back. Asuma took out some kunai knives before he jumped on him but not before Inuyasha brought his feet up and pushed up, hitting Asuma's stomach and sending up into the air. Jumping to his feet, Inuyasha gathered his demonic energy into the tips of his fingers and went after Asuma.

"**Iron Reaper Soul Stealer!**" Inuyasha yelled as his finger tips shined an eerie yellow and he swung his claw forward in a down motion. Asuma, through his pain and fatigue, shifted as best he could to avoid the attack. Inuyasha's attack cut through Asuma's jonin vest and onto his chest. Blood rushed out from Asuma's wounds as they both started to fall.

Inuyasha landed smartly on his feet with a bend of his knees and stood up. Asuma landed on his back with a dull thud and grunted loudly. Inuyasha watched as Asuma struggled to rise to his feet. Asuma only chuckled as he felt himself on the brink of consciousness.

"We're done." Asuma said, shocking everyone in the stadium. "I don't think I can fight anymore and even if I could, I doubt I could win in my state." Groaning, he stretched his back as he bent backwards though not before falling on his back again.

"W-What?" Inuyasha asked, baffled by the odd man's surrender.

"I really didn't feel like doing this anyways." Asuma answered lazily. Inuyasha turned his head towards the hokage after snapping out his amazement.

"So, am I in or what?" He asked. Hiruzen groaned into his hand as he felt the air thicken with suspense.

"Fine, yes you're in." He answered. "We'll deal with all the paperwork back in my office but for now…" Hiruzen stood from his seat and stretched his old, weary bones. "I'm going home." He said, making everyone fall face first onto the ground. Standing up, Naruto made his way towards his brother who was heading right for the exit. Meeting him outside the stadium, Naruto fell into step with his brother who seemed to be in deep thought.

"What's wrong aniki?" Naruto asked. Inuyasha didn't respond, only walked a bit quicker than before. Naruto picked up his pace, once again walking besides his brother who was acting strange. "Aniki?"

"I heard what they said up there." Was all Inuyasha simply said. At first Naruto didn't know what he was talking about but then it hit them…

"The jonins." He said to himself but Inuyasha heard him as he nodded his head.

"Yeah but to hell with them. I got a job now and a home for the both of us; I don't need them." Inuyasha stated with an angered tone. Naruto, oblivious to the villagers who stared at both of them with disgust after seeing their fox/dog ears, smiled at Inuyasha.

"You better not say that if you ever get caught in a situation where you need their help." Naruto mocked, earning a growl from Inuyasha.

"Like I said, they can go to hell for all I care; so they don't like me, I'm sure I'll find a way to live on. As for needing their help, pfffh, I'm sure whatever situation I get myself into, I'll be able to save myself from it." He said arrogantly. Moving past that particular event, Inuyasha looked down at Naruto. "Anyways, I'm surprised you're not worrying about the fact that you're going to the academy." Naruto shrugged his shoulders as closed his eyes.

"I'm surprised that you're surprised. I never panic, especially for something as small as that." Naruto countered but Inuyasha only stared at him oddly. Getting the feeling of someone staring at him, he looked to his right. "What?" He asked his brother.

"Did you really just say that? Don't you remember that one time in Kumo?" Naruto shivered at the memory. His nervousness at going to a new school had gotten the best of him and caused one of the biggest catastrophe Kumo's academy has ever seen. Naruto didn't even know what that cow was doing there or how the fire started under water; all he remembered was getting in the classroom and twenty minutes later, him and his brother leaving Kumo forever.

"Well that was years ago, let go of the past Aniki." Naruto said with a faint blush on his face.

"That one girl was cute though." Inuyasha stated, earning a darker blush from Naruto.

"I guess… but how was I supposed to know she was allergic to peanut butter! It's not like they have some kind of key difference from those who aren't allergic." Naruto said in his defense but Inuyasha only shook his head. "Shut up, it's not like you did any better than me! Remember the priest and the coffin."

"I told you never to mention that again you brat!" Inuyasha growled, locking Naruto in a head lock with his left arm and smashing his right fist against Naruto's head.

"Let… ARGH… go of me you… damn it that hurt… jerk!" Naruto then opened his mouth wide and bit down on Inuyasha's arm. Inuyasha immediately let him go but Naruto didn't release his grip on Inuyasha's arm.

"Ah! You brat, let me go!" Naruto growled as he shook his head and this made Inuyasha scream louder as he continued to pound Naruto's head with his fist. This, in turn, caused everyone's attention to turn to them and scowl at their appearance. Most muttered amongst themselves while others started to shout obscene things. Inuyasha and Naruto, who now let go of Inuyasha, both watched as a mob of sorts started to form and surround them.

"We were finally rid of the demon child years ago and now we have two more?!" "The hell's wrong with you?!" "You should be killed on the spot!"

The villager who yelled the last comment was frozen stiff, as were the other villagers, when their eyes connected to Inuyasha's amber eyes. Naruto, who had his back turned with his shoulder hunched, clenched his fist tightly next to each other. After all these years of his absences, all these years to release their angers and forget about him, they still remembered him and if that wasn't enough, they were even more aggressive than before. Before, it was only glares and mumbled words, nothing more, nothing less.

The only thing beyond that was those two shinobis who attacked him and sent him to his death. Now, they openly stated their hatred and were even shouting for his death. What had happened to the Sandaime's law? Was he gone for so long that he figured that it was pointless to keep the laws up if Naruto wasn't here to be protected by them?

A hit to the back of his head snapped him out of his depressing thoughts as his right hand shot up and felt the area where a bump was forming. Looking to the crowd behind him, he saw many of them bending down to pick up anything that would be easy to throw and still cause serious damage. He gracefully dodged the next thrown item, which was a rock but he saw that the mob only got angrier.

Inuyasha had to restrain himself from attacking the mob in front of him. Not only were they throwing things at his younger brother but at him as well. He didn't so much care for himself but they crossed the line when they started throwing things at his brother. In a slow process, the mob started throwing less and less things as they felt the air thicken, making it harder for them to breathe, let alone stand.

As they fell to their knees, the air surrounding Inuyasha felt disturbing, almost demonic. But no, Inuyasha wasn't using his demonic energy to cause the petty villagers to fall to their knees; he was only using his killing intent. Naruto, who had gotten used to his brother's temper and the insane amount of pressure that followed, gripped his brother's left arm with his right hand, breaking the killing intent and giving everyone a chance to breathe.

"It's not worth it Aniki, nothing you do now will change anything. Let's just go before they find some way to blame this on us." Inuyasha snarled at the villagers who cowered under his stare before grunting in submission. "Come on." Naruto said with an unprecedented amount of sadness.

"You're lucky… this time. Next time I see or hear about you pulling this bull, I will come after you." Inuyasha's tawny eye shined with unadulterated hatred as he started to walk away with his brother's shoulders slumped forward and his face all but ecstatic. "You alright?" Inuyasha asked. Naruto nodded his head. "Up for some hunting?" He asked, knowing how much his brother liked hunting. Not so much for the hunt itself, but for the fun they had doing it. It gave both of them a better sense of a brotherly bond they already had. However Naruto only shook his head.

Inuyasha knew this was a bad idea; coming back to his birth place. He tried to so many times to talk him out of him… well, not so much as talk as much as 'physically persuade' him to change his mind. Nevertheless, Naruto's determination and desire to return here had overcome his pain and Inuyasha's torment. He told him he had to do this, if not for himself than at least for the Fourth Hokage. Why he mentioned such a prominent and influential figure head, Inuyasha didn't know.

He was about to say something but Naruto stopped suddenly and looked at Inuyasha.

"I kind of want to be alone… just for a while." He said. Inuyasha looked at him and nodded, understanding that this was one thing he could not help his brother with.

"Ok but if you're not back before night then I'm going to find you and beat you until you can't tell the difference between night and day." Naruto nodded, and started to walk off. Inuyasha could only shake his head; it must be really bad if he didn't even respond to his hollow threat. Noticing that he was only a few blocks away from a restaurant, Inuyasha counted the amount of money he had on him, raised the hood behind his head over his ears and walked to the restaurant.

Naruto had been wandering the streets for only a minute and all the glares and hatred was already aimed at him. Deciding to at least have one more night of odd stares instead of those of hatred, he pulled the hood over his head and shoved his hands into the pockets of his orange cloak. As he continued to walk, he did notice that the glares did lessen and he let out a breath of relief at that.

Remembering the streets and alley accurately, Naruto navigated through the village with no problem. He took a short cut to the park where he made his first attempt at a friend. It was so silly how easily it was to make a friend back then that Naruto let out a mirthless chuckle. He also knew how easily it was for a little kid to be influenced.

Lifting the right sleeve of his cloak, Naruto still saw the image of a long cut on his bicep, though it only lasted for a small second. No scar ever remained on him and the only thing that linked his memory to the wound was the park he stood in front of. Shaking away the memory, Naruto continued forward and onto the more abandoned region of the village.

This was the part of the village where most of the villager avoided. Why? Because to Naruto, this was home. This was where his old apartment complex was and where he last was before being dragged away against his will. But he should know better than to blame himself; he knew he wasn't the only reason this place was deserted. It was mostly because of the high body count this place produce.

Here was the place where most were killed, mugged or just beaten up for no particular reason. That was why Naruto's home was here; the Hokage's advisors hoped he would be just another number in the statistics that came with living here. It was said that every two in three people would either die or become insane just after the first forty-eight hours. Anyone else that was just strong or stupid enough to live there was just the ones who survived the odds.

Naruto though smiled defiantly, knowing he was one of those who went up against the odds and survived. He stopped swiftly in front of his old apartment and snarled with disgust. Not only had they 'honored' his old home with even more obscene graffiti but they had even had the nerve to ransack the place, making it look even worse than it already was.

Naruto dug his claws deep into his palms, drawing blood and soaking his fingers and hands with it but he paid no mind to it, it would heal up and the cut would disappear with the pain. And the state of his old apartment, it made no difference to him now, for now he had a newer, nicer place and he even had an older brother. He had found his aniki and created a bond he thought he would never have. He had found hope and safety in the form of his aniki and nothing the villagers could do would ever take that away from him.

Try as they might, they will never be able to shatter Naruto's will and spirit so long as he had his aniki around. Turning his gaze on the Fourth Hokage, Naruto only smiled.

'_You are the reason I returned Yondaime. There was and probably still is a reason you picked me to have the Kyuubi sealed in all these years. Though even you probably didn't see the damned beast fusing with me did you? Still, I think there was another reason you wanted me to have Kyuubi's strength and chakra in me besides to stop it from destroying the village.'_ Naruto looked intensely at the Yondaime's face as his thoughts continued. _'It's because you wanted me to use Kyuubi's chakra and strength to protect this village. To make sure whatever incident may occur in the future, that I'd be here to make sure that this place had at least a fighting chance against a strong opponent.'_

Naruto smiled confidently and overjoyed.

'_I promise Yondaime, I will put my life on the line, just as you did, to protect this village and everyone in it; even if they do hate me. If this is what you want me to do, then give me a sign, anything that'll let me know that I am right in some way.'_

"Hmm?" Naruto expected something to happen but nothing did, only a passing breeze and a couple of stray leaves dancing in the air. Naruto sighed sadly.

'_Either way, I'm still not going anywhere.'_ Naruto thought as he turned to walk back home, seeing as the sun was now setting. Naruto closed his cloak up more after another cold breeze passed him by. "Brr… it's really cold, looks like it's going to rain soon, too." Naruto stated as he hurried to go home. Just as the sun's last rays were about to disappear, they shone on the Yondaime's stone face and the first drop of rain landed on top of an iris. It glistened as the sun's light illuminated it for the last time that day. **[AN: An iris, as far as I know, symbolizes faith. It also symbolizes wisdom, valor and friendship though I'm mostly focusing on faith.]**

**[*.*.*.*]**

Naruto's heart pumped rapidly, his legs buckled and his fist were clenched tightly by his sides. His stare at the building in front of him was so intense that you'd be able to tell he was ready and focused. Naruto smiled bravely as he pushed the doors opened and walked through the empty halls. He couldn't explain the rush he felt at the moment, the best he could do was probably call it adrenaline.

Naruto could only explain the reason of his adrenaline as this; the rush of meeting new people, the drive to compete with his classmates, pushing past his limits and coming out the victor. And through his dedication and hard work, he was going to become a legend like no other and he was sure as hell that no one was going to stop him.

Reaching for the knob of the door he was assigned to the previous day, Naruto pushed the door and let it swing open. It was then that everyone in the classroom had their attention on the door. Naruto stepped into the room with a sense of pride and daring.

"Yo!"

**[*.*.*.*]**

Somewhere in the back of the room sat a girl, but no ordinary girl, a girl with a high social status among the village and an air of grace and kindness. Though you wouldn't be able to tell she had such a high social status at first glance; if anything, she seemed to wait on hand and foot to one of high status. For you see, the one being mentioned is none other than Konoha's own shy kuniochi-to-be, Hinata Hyuga.

Hinata sat isolated up on top of the class, keeping her distance from the other kids who would occasionally mock her eyes or her meek personality. With a frown placed upon her lips, Hinata tuned out Mizuki's speech on the fundamentals of throwing a large shuriken as she placed her chin on her palm. It was the first day of the new and last year in the academy and Hinata already wanted to be done with it. Mizuki was lecturing them on something already taught to them the previous year and it bored Hinata. She looked out the window, her thoughts drifting to the meeting her father had with her the other day…

"_Hinata." Hinata froze at the mention of her name. The emotionless yet cold tone that spoke her name could only come from one of two people; though she already knew who had addressed her. Turning, Hinata stood at attention as her father walked up to her._

"_Y-Yes father?" Hinata stuttered. Hiashi stared at his daughter straight in the eyes for only a second before she ended up looking away, too intimidated to even keep eye contact with her own father. Hiashi inwardly scowled as Hinata started fiddling with her two index fingers; showing such weakness in the Hyuga clan was like diving into a pool filled with sharks while you wore a necklace made entirely of bloody meat._

"_Leave your fingers be Hinata and act like a proper Hyuga." Hinata bowed her head and apologized after dropping her hands to her sides. "Hinata, I hope you have been training since your last defeat." Hinata flinched at the mention of the spar she lost to her younger sister. Such a thing was humiliating and the fact that she almost ran away made her feel worse about it considering that only a weak person would run._

"_I-I have father, I-I improved… if o-only a little bit." Hinata answered. Hiashi, a bit skeptical, accepted this answer._

"_For your place as heir, I certainly hope so." Hiashi was about to walk away but he saw Hinata struggling to say something. Waiting another second or so, Hinata met his gaze with one of confusion._

"_I-If I may ask f-father, w-what do you m-mean by that?" She asked, almost too fearful to find out. Hiashi looked at her before sighing._

"_I will not lie to you, the Hyuga Elders suggests that it may be better for the clan if Hanabi was named heir to the clan." Hinata's eyes widened at this, now knowing for sure she didn't want to know. "To them, Hanabi has improved greatly while you have shown no signs of improving. I suggested that we postpone such a thing to another time."_

"_B-But father, w-why?" She asked, incredulous that her father did such a thing. _

"_I believe you are competent enough to lead this clan to greater things my child, you just need the drive to accomplish this." Hiashi answered and Hinata was still in shock. _

"_Y-Y-You… believe in m-me?" She asked, hoping that this wasn't a dream and smiled faintly when she saw her father nod._

"_However, you need to improve greatly if you wish to stay heir to this clan. I may have bought you some time but only you will be able to decide whether or not you shall remain heiress." Hiashi, having nothing left to say, walked into his office, leaving Hinata in the middle of the hallway to think on her father's words._

'_He believes in me.'_

Hinata should be happy at the thought of her father believing in her, she knew it, but there was something bothering her. Not only was it the fact that the elders have basically given up hope for her but just at the feeling that her father was leaving something out. What it was, she didn't know which was exactly what was bothering her. She sighed as a bird flew by the window and landed on a nearby branch. That was something Hinata wanted.

Not necessarily a bird, but what the bird represented. Freedom. The freedom to fly to any destination and not have to worry about obligations to a certain place unless their children were there. They were free to fly where ever their hearts desired and did what they wanted.

Even though she did have freedom to some extent, her desire and intentions were mostly for her cousin and the side branch. If she were to compare herself to a bird, Hinata would say she was like an injured bird; momentarily halted from its travel but would one day return to the sky. As for her cousin, he was more like a caged bird.

He had so much potential, so much talent for someone born of the side branch. However, like a caged bird, he's room to grow as a Hyuga was very limited. At the delicate age of four, Neji, her cousin was marked with the caged bird seal on his forehead and because of it and one other event; he resents Hinata to the point where even a spar, where there was a chance to hurt Hinata, would spark a smirk on his face.

Hinata wished there was something she could do about it; her clan, her cousin… her father. Before her thoughts could go to her father, she gasped as the door in front of the class was thrown open a kid wearing an orange cloak stepped in.

"Yo!" Hinata looked at the new comer, eyes as wide as saucers. It was him, the kid from before, the one who convinced her from running away. Mizuki, who was currently going through the safety and dangers of wielding a kunai, looked at the kid with a sort of disgust.

'_Probably because he interrupted the lesson.' _Hinata thought.

"Who are you?" Mizuki asked. Naruto, removing his hood smiled.

"I'm the new kid." Naruto answered while pointing a thumb to himself. Hinata was shocked to see a black bandana over his head, forcing his hair to flow down and cover the area where his ears would be. Not his fox ears but a regular person's ears. She also noticed that his eyes, while still blue, had a normal, round pupil, not the slit one she saw the week before.

"Fine then, just go sit down and be quiet, I'm in the middle of a lesson." Mizuki said. Naruto looked around the room.

"Where?" Mizuki groaned as his grip on the kunai tightened.

"I don't care, just sit down already." He answered, clearly annoyed. Naruto shrugged his shoulder and walked up to the top of the class where the last row of desk was. Sitting down to the chair in the middle of the last row, Naruto leaned forward onto his forearms on the desk and his head resting on his forearms.

"First day here and already the teacher hates me; this is like Iwa all over again." Naruto mumbled as he glared at Mizuki as he showed the class how to properly handle a kunai. "Not like anyone doesn't already know how to hold one. What does he think; that we'll throw the thing in the air and try to catch it with our teeth? Actually…" Naruto was relieved of his musing when movement caught his attention from the corner of his eyes. "Hmm?"

Hinata fidgeted in her seat even more now that Naruto had noticed her. She blushed when he tiled his head in a quizzical and comical way. His eye squinted and his seemed to be in deep thought.

"Oh hey, it's you, the one I talked to last week. Sorry but I'm bad with names, just give me a second. Oh that's right Hinata-chan!" He said happily with a smile. Hinata's blush turned to a darker shade of red.

'_He remembered my name.'_ She thought as she nodded her head. Naruto smiled wider and closed his eyes.

"So how's it been since the last time we met?" He asked, oblivious to Mizuki who was looking at Naruto and speaking louder than necessary.

"I-I've been… good N-Naruto-san." She answered hesitantly. She wasn't sure she would call yesterday bad but it wasn't exactly the best either.

"Eh? No, no don't call me that, I'm don't like being called '-san', anything but that." Naruto said and Hinata nodded while fiddling with her index fingers.

"O-Ok, how a-about '-kun' then… u-u-unless y-you don't w-want me t-to." Hinata stammered hurriedly, not wanting to offend Naruto but he only smiled.

"Yeah, that's better than '-san' in every way." He said with a cheeky smile and it seemed to be contagious because soon Hinata started smiling too. The smiles on their faces were soon removed when they heard someone clear their throat. Looking down, they both sweat dropped at the sight of everyone looking at them. Well, Naruto did, Hinata was trying her best to disappear in thin air.

"I'm sorry, is my teaching interrupting you?" Mizuki asked Naruto.

"No, its ok, you can keep going." He answered, earning a couple of stifled chuckles from the class but this only angered Mizuki more.

"Why don't you come down here and explain to the class what a kunai is." Mizuki suggested with a sly grin and Naruto shrugged his shoulders as he stood.

"Whatever you say." Naruto made his way towards Mizuki and snatched the kunai away from Mizuki's hands. He then tossed it lightly in the air and caught the sharp end of the kunai with the tip of his left index finger and kept it perfectly balanced.

"The kunai is like a shuriken, one of the more basic weapons a shinobi has at his or her possession. Basically a black dagger that is meant to be thrown, like so." Naruto grabbed the hilt of the kunai and threw it carelessly in the air and made it get stuck on the ceiling. "Sometimes, shinobi's attach an exploding tag on the kunai to pack a bigger punch to the attack. This is done by throwing the kunai, lodging it into an object and waiting for the explosive tag to do the rest. Others have also tied spring-loaded wires to the hilt to show off. There are many different types of kunai knives, from on the size of the one on the ceiling to one as long as a katana."

Naruto shocked Mizuki, as well as half the entire class as he said all of that in one breath and with a bored expression. At the end, he groaned while facing Mizuki.

"Am I done?" Mizuki hadn't answered, so Naruto took that as a yes and made his way to his seat. Before he could sit, a bell rang and a second later, another teacher with a scar that ran across his nose and cheeks came into the room.

"It's time for lunch everyone, you're dismissed." The man said. Everyone stood up and started to make their way towards the exit. Naruto smiled at the words of the scarred man and went for the closest door before stopping short with his head hung low. Hinata, who was taking her time to leave, noticed Naruto's sudden depression.

"A-Are you alright N-Naruto-kun?" She asked. Naruto looked at her and noticed the worried expression on her face.

"I'm great except for the fact that I forgot my lunch." He said as his stomach growled, agreeing with him. "If only I wasn't late, stupid aniki and his selfish self. I'll get him back sooner or later." Naruto mumbled. Hinata looked at her lunch in her hands and held her hands out. Naruto, hearing the sudden ruffle of clothing, looked up and his eyes widened.

"Y-You can have m-my lunch if y-you want N-Naruto-kun." Naruto looked at the lunch and then at Hinata.

"I-I couldn't, it's your lunch. You don't have to go hungry just because I didn't bring my lunch." Naruto said in an attempt to make Hinata eat her lunch.

"I-It's ok Naruto-kun, I-I'm not t-that hung-" It was at that moment Hinata's stomach decided to voice its opinion. She blushed furiously as she looked down at the ground. "Still, I-I want you t-to have my lunch. I-It's the least I c-can do for… y-you know, last w-week."

"How about we share it?" Hinata looked up at him in disbelief. "Since you're hungry and I'm hungry, we might as well share it and make both our stomachs content." He said with the same cheeky smile and rubbed the back of his head. Hinata smiled too and nodded her head.

"O-Ok, if that's w-what you want." Soon, they both headed outside where the other academy students were either playing on a nearby playground or sitting somewhere eating their lunch. Naruto covered his eyes as they adjusted to the sun's bright rays. Naruto followed Hinata to the back of the academy where there was a small and old picnic table under the shade of a tree.

"So this is where you eat lunch?" He asked. Hinata nodded her head as she put her lunch, which was in a box, on top of the table and sat down in front of it. Naruto moved to the other side and sat down, waiting expectantly for his portion of the lunch. Hinata opened the box and Naruto's eyes watered at the lunch that lay in front of him.

In one part of the box was a container of white rice, next to it was a thermos and another container with some sushi rolls.

"Y-You can have the s-sushi." She said, pushing the corner with the sushi to Naruto's direction. Naruto smiled as opened the container and took a bite from the sushi. His face stayed neutral for a second before he let his head fall to the table. Hinata was worried at first but was then confused by his expression. It looked… mesmerized. "N-Naruto-kun, are you o-ok?" She asked.

"I'm great… and so is this sushi." He said with a dazed tone. He snapped out of it and jumped to his feet. "Who made this?" He asked excitedly as he stuffed his face with more sushi. Hinata fidgeted in her seat while playing with her index fingers.

"M-Me." She answered.

"Really? Did you make everything else too?" He asked and Hinata nodded. "Can I try some of the rice?" Hinata nodded again and Naruto grabbed the chop sticks on the side and took some rice. As he chewed it in his mouth, his dazed expression returned and he slumped down on his seat. "Soooooooooooooo good." He commented.

"D-Do y-you really t-think so?" Hinata asked skeptically.

"I know so!" He said as he took more rice from the container. Almost as soon as he took the second bite, all the rice was gone. At first he was mad that there was no more rice but then remembered that he essentially ate Hinata's entire lunch. "S-Sorry, I didn't mean to eat it all." He apologized.

"I-It's ok, I'm just g-glad you enjoyed i-it." She said with a warm smile. Naruto felt a little better but not entirely. Suddenly a scent caught his attention and his started sniffing the air.

"Do you smell that? Smells like… like…" Hinata smelt the air too and smiled as she closed her eyes.

"Cinnamon rolls." She finished for him, in a delighted and dazed tone, not unlike Naruto. He looked at her as her whole body relaxed and she had a real smile on her face.

"So you like cinnamon rolls?" He asked with a devious smile. She nodded her head and was about to say something but then noticed that Naruto wasn't around.

Naruto jumped on top of the roof of the academy and followed the scent of the cinnamon rolls. Jumping on the other side, Naruto tracked down the cinnamon rolls to a room with its window open. Looking inside, Naruto saw what he guessed was the teachers' lounge or something. There was three microwaves, two refrigerators, a mini-refrigerator and three tables set up around the room. It was currently empty and in the middle of one of the tables was a plate full of cinnamon rolls.

There was steam rising from the cinnamon rolls and Naruto felt himself start to drool. Wiping the drool from the corner of his mouth, Naruto jumped into the room and stealthily headed for the cinnamon rolls. Grabbing the plate, Naruto snickered quietly as he jumped out of the room and headed back to where Hinata was. A second later, Mizuki came and was about to sit down when he noticed that the cinnamon rolls were gone.

Naruto laughed loudly as he made it to the other side of the academy, seeing Hinata eating the remainder of her lunch from the thermos. Naruto tilted his head and stopped short when he saw three boys standing in front of her. They were unfamiliar to him and just classified them as her friends until…

"Hmph, sad." One boy with short black hair said when he slapped the thermos out of Hinata's hands, making it fall and spill on the ground. Naruto watched as tears started to gather around Hinata's eyes as the two boys besides the black haired one began to laugh at Hinata.

"You want to be a kunoichi? You can't even stand up for yourself! How are you going to go on missions if all you do is cry?" The black haired boy shouted, making Hinata shrink in herself. She wrapped her arms around her knees and brought them up to her chest. First Naruto abandoned her and now the boys who usually bullied her came to pay her a visit. Hinata cried as one of the boys, one with dark green hair started to pull on her short, midnight blue hair.

"Who the hell are you?!" Naruto growled as he walked up behind Hinata, slammed the plate of cinnamon rolls on the table and slapped the green haired boy's hand away from Hinata. Hinata jumped at the sound of the plate hitting the table and looked behind her to see an angry Naruto.

"N-Naruto-kun." She said through her tears. For a second, Hinata thought she saw Naruto's pupil go back to its previous slit form but she blinked repeatedly and saw that it was still round.

"Oh, who's this Hinata, your boyfriend?" The boy on the left with long brown hair asked teasingly. Hinata blushed but didn't answer as she moved away from the three boys and closer to Naruto.

"I guess he is seeing as he brought her cinnamon rolls." The leader of the three mocked. "I'm sure you wouldn't mind me getting some." The leader reached out and was about to grab a cinnamon roll but Naruto's rock hard grip on his wrist stopped him. The leader scowled at the pain he felt from his wrist and looked up at Naruto. "Let me go!" He demanded with his teeth clenched.

Naruto pushed the leader away and was caught by his two followers. He immediately recovered and tried to punch Naruto but Naruto ducked and pushed him again, this time with more force. He took only two steps back before the leader fell on his back.

"Haha!" Naruto looked to where the laugh came from and saw the boy with the green hair holding the plate of cinnamon rolls. The leader stood up and smirked at Naruto.

"Too bad, looks like we still got the cinnamon rolls after all." The leader mocked, his arrogance and superior attitude annoyed Naruto.

"I don't care about that! If I ever hear or see you bastards messing with Hinata-chan again, I'll come find you and personally beat the crap out of you!" Naruto shouted with conviction and anger. The three boys faltered as they ran away from him, only to be stopped by Mizuki and Iruka who appeared in their way.

"So this is where our cinnamon rolls went." Mizuki said sarcastically with a smile. Iruka glared at the boys in front of him and shook his head.

"That's detention for the three of you." The boys started to complain and tell them Naruto did it but Iruka and Mizuki wouldn't have it, they just dragged them into the academy and left Naruto and Hinata alone. Naruto looked at Hinata with concern as she watched her spilt soup on the ground. Her shoulders shook and she sniffed a couple of times but besides that, she wouldn't respond to the outside world.

"Hinata-chan?" Hinata didn't look up and him but did respond with a soft moan. "Are you ok?" He asked. She nodded her head and Naruto sighed. "Was that red bean soup? That's my favorite, too bad it's on the floor now."

"I-It's my favorite t-too." She commented.

"So is cinnamon rolls right?" He asked with a smile and she nodded her head again. "Then here you go!" Hinata looked up and saw Naruto holding out a cinnamon roll wrapped in a napkin.

"H-How…?"

"I snuck one for myself to try later. I brought the whole plate for you since it's my fault you didn't eat anything. Must be lucky those jerks got in trouble instead of us huh?" Hinata slowly took the cinnamon bun from Naruto's hands and looked at it. "Thanks again for the lunch Hinata-chan!"

"T-Thank you N-Naruto-kun… for e-everything." She said with a sincere smile. Naruto smiled back and took a seat besides Hinata. He looked at the sky while he waited for Hinata to finish her lunch and for the bell to ring.

It was his first day of school and already he had enemies. Naruto looked down at Hinata and couldn't help but smile. It didn't matter to him if the entire academy hated him, he already had one friend and to him, that was all the friends he needed.

**

* * *

So how was it? I, once again, did not mean to have a Naruhina, I really tried to make it as normal as possible but unfortunately/fortunately, which ever way you wanna see it, my mind had other ideas... So, as much as I try not to, I guess I will always have a Naruhina in every chapter... I'm not saying that's bad, just that it's something I've noticed about myself...**

**To answer the question, yes Naruto did have Kyuubi sealed in him but something went wrong with the seal and he was fused together with Kyuubi,... Which answers another question, no, Kyuubi won't be talking to him in his mind...**

**Oh yeah, Inuyasha currently does NOT have Tessaiga [or tetsaiga for those who like this spelling... Their both correct, sort of, but I won't go into that right now...] Don't worry, he will get it, at some point, just not now... Like I mentioned in the summary, this will be a InuyashKagome fic, not the main one at the moment but it will soon...**

**Oye, Oye, I wanna know something... I already know what I'm going to do but how many of you like the idea of Naruto having a sword equivalent to Inuyasha's tessaiga? Like, maybe have it formed by the talon/claw/fang of a demon Naruto runs into in the near future or something... It's an idea I had and I like it though that doesn't necessarily mean I'm putting it in here... Just curiosity getting the better of me so plz review!**

**Next Chapter: The Mystery of You... _[Name of a song that'll go great with the next chapter!]_**

**Good luck with whatever and if you got a problem with me or one of my stories, please feel free to: Deal with it, Get over it or Choke on it!**


	4. Review Reply and Bonus Christmas Omake

**Well, I need to clear the air about something that was brought attention the other day... or two days ago... whatever...**

**I recieved a review from zzz who had a few things I want to explain and seeing as he was anonymous, I can't really bring this up with him/her[though I think its a 'he'] in private...**

**Number 1: I'm sorry about the whole class being surprised that Naruto knew what a kunai was... Of course it was something they knew but I was trying to say that they were surprised that he said it all in one go/breath... Also, the fact that he's new and since they don't know him, they assumed he's unfamiliar with Konoha and shinobi facts, which was something I took into a count but I guess I shouldn't have seeing as no one else understood... Though I'm not blaming anyone but myself... Also, I'm not giving out excuses, just explanations...**

**Number 2: Inuyasha breaking Asuma's trench knives... Anyone else find that odd? That Inuyasha shouldn't be able to break specially made knives built to hold chakra with his hands as if it was nothing? I honestly don't think it's odd... Why? Because Inuyasha's yokai blood gives him superhuman strength but that's not all... **

**According to the Zusetsutaizen Ougikaiden official character data book, he is at _least_ "strong enough to easily lift a boulder - with a diameter greater than the height of his body - over his head with _one_ hand."... It also says and I quote "Assuming that boulder is near-spherical, is made of granite with a density of2.7g/cm³, and has a diameter of 200 cm [Inuyasha's height being assumed at an average175 cm], a boulder of that size would weigh approximately between 9000 kg [9 metric tons or19,800 lb] and 11,000 kg [11 metric tons or 24,250 lb], or approximately the weight of a large city bus or the combined weight of 5-6 standard cars."**

**So really, is it still only me who thinks that he can't break some special knives but can lift up something that weighs as much as a a large city bus or 5 to 6 standard cars in total? And even if he couldn't, with stats like that, can you blame me for thinking that? [By the way, this is all true, I did NOT make this up... Look it up yourseves if you don't believe me...]**

**On a last note before I go on... zzz, are you really going to compare Asuma's human made trench knives to Inuyasha's Tessaiga which was made by his father's fang? Are you really?**

**Number 3: I rather quote this one if no one minds...**

**_"Next i have a question, is this going to be a Naruto does all and gets everything fic...kinda wanna know so i can just stop reading if it is -_- theres no point in reading such an obvious story as Naruto sees Naruto rapes Naruto gets all."_**

**OK, to answer your question, no, this is not a "Naruto-gets-what-he-wants-when-he-wants-it" kind of story... He will work hard for it but if I do make it seem like he gets everything handed to him on a silver platter then I'd like to apologize for it now...**

**Also, if I were to be brutally honest with you zzz, I would rather have you stop reading now if all you have to say is negative things though I'm not saying you did in the review... Constructive criticism, I'd really appreciate from you or from anyone but negative things is something I don't want... If you're the same 'zzz' who reviewed chapter 24 of anothvortex's story "Escape from the Hokage's hat" _[which is really awesome in my opinion] _and said all those things about his amazingly and properly written story, then I gotta wonder what you're going to write for my story... Compared to his, mine's is like Dr. Suess without the rhymes, simple yet entertaining to a certain extent...**

**I also see what you meant... Hinata did train along with Naruto but ended up being showed up by Naruto but what about Tsunade, Hana and Shizune? They are all better than Naruto at the moment but they didn't fight... Besides, how would you expect Hinata to fight a lizard the size of a five story_ [maybe bigger] _building? She cannot summon and her offensive style is more fitting to fight those her size or close to it... Naruto, besides Tsunade, is the only one who could summon something that could stand up to the lizard in terms of strength and size... Please try to be open minded about things like this because I am sure to make a mistake similar to anothvortex... Even with this mistake, his writing and plot clearly overshadows this small flaw...**

**I really don't want to antagonize anyone because I don't like arguing, mostly all it really does is waste time... So yeah, keep reading my story zzz and if you would, I'd love to hear from you saying which parts you liked or parts that you liked it in general and even areas I need improvement in _[without swear words]_... But please, and I even said please, don't post a flame, not only will I not take it seriously, but I'll disregard it as nothing but misplaced aggression...**

**So, like anothvortex, my writing, my stories and my desire to write won't be hindered because someone didn't like my story, my style of writing, pairing and/or plot... **

**Like I said before, I do NOT want to antagonize anyone nor do I want you, zzz, to consider this a rant to you or me singling you out... This goes for anyone else who wants to flame me or hates me for trivial matters such as the ones I mentioned before...**

**I would like to thank anyone who took the time to read this and I hope you understand zzz and if you didn't, then I'm sorry but I tried...**

**Anyways, for those still reading, I wanted to let you know that I will be writing Christmas Omakes for all my multi-chaptered stories to celebrate the upcoming holidays...They will each be AU and related to the story... And because this is an AU Omake, please don't take everything at face value, it is AU after all...Please enjoy the Omake and I hope you have a merry christmas!**

* * *

**I Don't Own Naruto or Inuyasha and anything that's related to them besides my plot... Oh, last thing, Naruto and Hinata are 18 here and Kagome's here too!**

* * *

Snow; white, frozen water, uniquely shaped and is only seen at a certain temperature. Snow; something very rare for the villagers and shinobis of Konoha to see. It was usually too warm for it to snow in Konoha but apparently, Mother Nature decided to change it up a bit this year.

Shivering uncontrollably, Inuyasha and Naruto walked behind Hinata holding two bags on each hand. Hinata smiled warmly as her thick, beige jacket kept her warm while she skipped merrily along the side walk covered with snow. Naruto could only mumble to himself as he wondered how exactly he got himself in this predicament. Inuyasha was more or less thinking along those same lines.

"You should've brought a jacket Naruto-kun!" Hinata proclaimed cheerfully as he turned her head to look at him with her eyes closed. Naruto narrowed his eyes and looked at her.

"L-Like I said, d-d-don't need it!" He retorted back while stuttering. Hinata stopped and turned her body to completely face Naruto.

"So why do you sound like I did when I was twelve?" She asked, her merriment never leaving her. Naruto's pink cheeks darkened a bit as he looked to the side of the road. He mumbled something incoherent and Hinata tilted the left side of her head towards him and comically placed her gloved covered hand behind her left ear. "What was that?" She asked.

"Nothing." Was Naruto's strained answer. Hinata's smile returned and she giggled. Reaching up and messaging his right ear, Naruto smirked at the feel of Hinata's glove on his golden fox ear.

"That's a good boy!" Hinata teased as Naruto tried to retort to her tease but could not as he enjoyed the ear rubbing too much **_[AN: This was for you Dragon Man 180]. _**Inuyasha watched the display go one with embarrassment.

"You're definitely a toy." Inuyasha commented with a sweat drop. Growling, he waved his arms rapidly with the four shopping bags in his hands making a ruffling noise. "And why the hell am I even with you two love birds anyways?!" He shouted, stopping Hinata from rubbing Naruto's fox ear and earning a glare from Naruto.

"First off, SHUT UP! Second…" Naruto, dropping the bags on his left hand, punched Inuyasha's stomach. "I'm NOT A TOY! And Last, because if we didn't take you along with us, all you'd do is watch TV and eat junk food all day." Naruto answered.

"I don't see the problem with that." Inuyasha said after recovering from Naruto's sneak attack.

"Well too bad, you're already here and our apartment is on the other side of the village." Inuyasha groaned as he glared at Hinata.

"Thanks a lot! I could be home doing everything he just said I'd do but nooooo! You just had to make me do something else. What are we even doing?" Inuyasha complained. Inuyasha's scowl was soon replaced with a smile when Hinata stood on her tip toes and rubbed Inuyasha's ear with her right hand. Naruto frowned at this but Hinata ignored him.

"We're getting things to celebrate Christmas, that's what we're doing!" Hinata answered. She heard Naruto grunt and saw him fold his arms across his chest. Smiling, Hinata stretched her free hand out, grabbed Naruto's collar and brought him close to her before letting him go. He let out a breath he didn't know he was holding when Hinata gently placed her left hand on his right cheek and kissed his right cheek. Letting go of Inuyasha, Hinata hugged Naruto tightly.

"You don't have to be jealous Naruto-kun; you know you're my only guy." Hinata reminded him as he relaxed under her hug and let his head rest on her head.

"Oh, this is making me sick." Inuyasha commented and Naruto looked at him. Inuyasha flinched back, not because he was looking angrily at him, quite the opposite, it was because he was smirking at him.

"I bet it doesn't make you sick when you're doing this with Kagome-nee-chan." Inuyasha blushed as he looked at the ground. Mumbling something, Inuyasha started to walk forward as Hinata held on to Naruto's right arm like he was going to disappear if she let him go. "Not that I mention her, I just realized that Kagome-nee-chan has been a big influence on you." Naruto said with a nostalgic smile.

"Oh?"

"Yeah, I remember when you used to be so shy and sweet. Now you're, well, not to say bold but a lot less shy than you used to be." Hinata playfully glared at Naruto who laughed as soon as he saw it.

"What are you trying to say?" Hinata asked as she narrowed her eyes. For some reason being interested in seeing his breath, Naruto didn't answer. "Naruto-kun?"

"Nothing, I'm just saying. You know I love you either way." He said, putting her rising annoyance to rest. "Now come on, let's hurry up whatever we're doing and go home, I think I just lost my pinky toe forever!" Naruto said as he sped up his pace. Hinata giggled as she kept up with him.

[*.*.*.*]

"Ok you two, can you please do me a favor and get some firewood?" Hinata asked as she held all seventeen shopping bags in her hands. Inuyasha was about to say no but Naruto slammed his right hand over his mouth and chuckled sheepishly.

"Right away!" Naruto grabbed on to Inuyasha's shirt and before he could say anything, they both disappeared, their orange and red blurs running into the woods. Hinata thought that was strange, especially for Naruto, but shrugged it off as she walked up the stairs leading to Naruto's and Inuyasha's apartment.

With Naruto and Inuyasha's, Naruto was panting as Inuyasha started to spit multiple times at the ground.

"The hell you do that for?! You're hand taste like sour milk." Inuyasha said through his spitting. Finally getting his second wind, Naruto took hold of Inuyasha's collar and brought him close.

"Aniki, I really-really-really need your help!" Naruto said hurriedly. Inuyasha looked at Naruto strangely as he pushed Naruto back.

"Oh yeah? What do you need help with?" He asked warily of Naruto. He already knew what happened the last time Naruto 'really-really-really' needed his help and it didn't go so well for Inuyasha.

"I didn't get anything for Hinata-chan!" He said with a flinch and even making Inuyasha flinch. Inuyasha knew how Hinata tried to model herself from Kagome and when Inuyasha forgot to give Kagome a present on her last birthday…. Inuyasha didn't even want to think about it.

"Damn, that sucks. So what do you want me to do about it?" Inuyasha asked. Grabbing Inuyasha's sword from its sheath, Naruto placed Tessaiga in Inuyasha's hands.

"Do Adamants Barrage! We can use those!" Naruto said in a rapid pace. Inuyasha shook his head before changing Tessaiga to its more destructive form. Moving it over his head, Inuyasha took in a deep breath and closed his eyes.

"**Adamants Barrage!**" Snapping his eyes open and forcefully swinging down, Inuyasha's sword hardened and glowed before thousands of adamants shot out of Tessaiga, hitting and even bring down many trees in its path. Inuyasha lazily brought Tessaiga over his shoulder and grunted contently. "My work here is done."

Grabbing every adamant in sight, Naruto laughed as he walked up to Inuyasha.

"Thanks aniki, you're the best! Now bring back all those trees to the apartment while I get Hinata-chan's present set up." Naruto suddenly disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Yeah well… HEY!" Inuyasha yelled angrily into the air. Sighing furiously, Inuyasha grabbed Tessaiga with both hands as he prepared to take out all his anger on the poor, defenseless trees.

[*.*.*.*]

Five minutes to midnight and all was still in the living room as Inuyasha and Kagome sat together on the cough while Hinata stared out the window. Naruto hadn't returned when Inuyasha was carrying the firewood back to the apartment. It was only then did he realize that there was no fireplace to put the firewood and Hinata told him that the point was to surprise Inuyasha and Naruto while she and Kagome decorated the apartment.

Inuyasha would've complained about the pointless errand but Kagome didn't let him, seeing as his lips were busy kissing hers. Looking at the clock Hinata felt sadden when it was only one more minute to midnight. Whatever Naruto was doing certainly wasn't as important as spending Christmas Eve with her… was it?

Seeing Hinata's worried expression sadden Kagome a bit. To her, Hinata was a younger sister she never had. And now, her surrogate brother was late and making her little sister worry about him. As soon as she saw the little jerk, Kagome was going to…

_**Bong… **_Suddenly, two strong arms wrapped themselves around Hinata's waist.

_**Bong…**_ Hinata felt a soft kiss being placed on the small of her neck as someone held on to her hands with callous, cold ones.

_**Bong…**_ Kagome smiled as she leaned back against Inuyasha's chest who was smirking as Hinata turned around and her eyes widened.

"Merry Christmas Hinata-chan." Naruto whispered into her ear as the grandfather clock signaled the beginning of a new hour. Hinata lavender eyes looked into Naruto cerulean ones as he smiled at her. His ears twitched as he let go of Hinata's hand and used his now free hand to reach into his back pocket. "Hinata, with the help of my aniki, I was able to find you a Christmas present that I hope you'll like." Naruto brought a lengthy black box up to Hinata's hands and let it rest there.

"N-Naruto-kun…"

"Open it." He said bluntly with a warm smile. Hinata looked at him before looking at her present. Slowly opening it, Hinata's eyes sprang open at the thing in the box. It was a crescent moon locket with a very shiny, cobalt blue sapphire gem covering the entire front portion. Hinata looked up at Naruto with teary, unbelieving eyes.

"N-Naruto-kun… this must have been expensive." Naruto wrapped both arms around Hinata's waist and brought her closer to him.

"Nope, not a dime. Like I said, with the help of my aniki, I was able to trade his diamonds for this sapphire locket. Open it, there's more to it." Hinata turned the locket on the side and, without breaking it, forced it open. She looked what was inside and after she was done, turned around and enfolded her arms around his neck repeating the words 'thank you, thank you, thank you…' over and over again.

"What's inside?" Kagome asked.

"May I?" Naruto asked as Hinata nodded and was about to give Naruto the locket but he closed her hand with his with the locket still in her hand. "I don't need it; I already know what it says. I did after all write it." Clearing his throat, Naruto smiled brightly as he says the words in his mind.

"_I was lost; a__ broken mess; just scattered pieces of who I really was. I tried so hard so put myself together and I thought I could do this on my own but I've lost so much along the way._ _Then I see your face and I know I'm finally yours. I find everything I thought I lost before whenever you call my name. I know I'm not perfect but you make sense of who I am, like puzzle pieces in your hand. Which is why I came to you in pieces, so you can make me whole. I love you so much Hinata Hyuga._" Looking down at Hinata who was smiling like crazy, Naruto couldn't help but smile as well. "And I mean everything I said Hinata-chan."

"Aw, that's so sweet." Kagome commented with teary eyes. Inuyasha was only smirking; he wasn't so good at expressing his feelings but he did try his best.

"There's one more thing…" Hinata watched in incredulity as Naruto fell to one knee and taking out something from one of his pockets.

"No…" Kagome said through her shock.

"He isn't…" Inuyasha said right after Kagome.

"Hinata-chan, someone once told me, 'Don't fall in love with someone you can live with, fall in love with someone you can't live without' and Hinata-chan, you're someone I can't live without. Meeting you was fate, becoming you're friend when we were little was a choice, but falling in love with you was beyond my control. So please answer my question…" opening the box, Hinata gasped and raised her hand over her mouth. "Will you marry me?"

Inside the box was an engagement ring with an above average sized diamond. From her angle, Hinata could see the words 'I'll love you 'til my last breath and beyond' engraved in the ring. This time, nothing held back Hinata from letting the tears spill. She fell forward and hugged Naruto who almost lost balance.

"Of course Naruto-kun!" She yelled and Naruto hugged her firmly. Inuyasha and Kagome watched the scene unfold with a fond smile. Naruto kissed Hinata's neck as they both become oblivious to the world surrounding them. They were brought back by the sudden flash surrounding them. Looking up, they saw Kagome with a camera.

"Sorry but I couldn't help myself."

"Come on, let's open our presents and then go to sleep, I'm tired." Inuyasha said as he got up from his seat on the couch to the small Christmas tree in the corner of the room. Running to his side, Kagome kissed Inuyasha on the cheek and giggled seeing his blush. Naruto and Hinata followed soon after, laughing and fighting over the presents, but that was mostly Naruto and Inuyasha. With a tired yawn, both Kagome and Hinata slept in their lover's arms as Naruto and Inuyasha sat on the couch and started to feel their fatigue overcome them as well.

"This was a great Christmas." Naruto commented as Hinata rolled into a ball and snuggled against Naruto's chest.

"It really was." Inuyasha added as Kagome had her arms around his neck and her cheek against his left shoulder.

"Night aniki."

"Night otouto."

* * *

**That's all I have for this story's Christmas Omake... The next chapter won't be out for quite sometims considering I got six or seven other stories to think about so bare with me...**

**Just in case, I'd like to repeat that this didn't happen in ****Trails of the Hanyō Brothers****...**** this is a Christmas idea I had for the story to celebrate the upcoming holiday...**

**Also, I was completely surprised to see that not only did Dragon Man 180 reviewed my story, but RaiderXV also took an interest in my story... I don't wanna seem like fan boy or anything similar to that cause that'd be weird but honestly, I liked their stories... I don't know but since I would still technically be considered new to this site, to me, they're like veterans to this site... Hard to explain so I'll just end it here...**

**I don't really know what else to mention so I'll leave it at this...**

**Good luck with whatever and if you got a problem with me or one of my stories, please feel free to: Deal with it, Get over it or Choke on it!  
_-P.S. Happy Holidays!_**


	5. The Mystery of You

**Ok, well, I decided to combine the next chapter [this chapter] of****Trials of the Hanyō Brothers****with yet another Christmas special thing... Why? Well, just cuz I wanted to...**

**Also to zzz [who now taught me that there is no way to please everyone even if I give them explanations/answers], yes I know its easier to lift than to crush something but that's still not the point... Strength is strength... I believe, with the information I have gathered and given, Inuyasha would be able to crush Asuma's trench knives... And honestly, I'm pretty sure he would be able to crush the trench knives without getting hurt... How? maybe from the center bending it upward with his palm and fingers... Even then, he heals quickly...**

**I'm pretty sure you're going to complain about this again or something of equally less importance so I'll leave it at this... Good luck with whatever zzz... I'm done defending my story to you...**

**Anyways, thanks for everyone who reviewed and I hope you had a great Christmas... Now if you'll excuse me, I have a Smackdown vs Raw 2010 game to play...! _"Kicking ass, taking names, cashing checks, and breaking necks, the champ is here."_ -John Cena!**

**Chapter 5**_**[though technically chapter 4]**_**:****The Mystery of You...**

**Disclaimer:**** I don't own Naruto**

* * *

With his tail wagging quickly, ears twitching wildly and cerulean eyes watching expectantly, Naruto could only fidget in his seat as his aniki walked out the door of his apartment. Supposedly, he was going to go out to by some food but Naruto knew better than to believe him. That's what he told him every year during this time; December 24th, Christmas Eve.

Naruto jumped off the walls as his excitement over the holiday overcame his composure and common sense. He burst out of his apartment door and headed down the street on all fours. Even though he was saddened that snow didn't come to Konoha like it did in Kiri, he was still overjoyed by the holiday alone. Jumping onto the roof of the nearest building, Naruto started to stake out for his target. Its scent was in the air and was very close. With his target now confirmed, Naruto sped down the side of the building and landing carefully on his feet.

With a burst of speed, Naruto ran into the direction of his target. Stopping smartly on the side of some bushes, Naruto's golden fox ears moved to the path of its target and his black tipped tail moved warily from side to side. He spotted his target, his prey, relaxing in its natural habitat behind a tree. It was oblivious to Naruto's presence which only made him smile as he stealthily made his way towards his prey. He heard his prey giggle and he stopped short when his stepped on a twig, cracking it and making his prey look around. Disguising himself with the bushes, he avoided being spotted by his prey and continued forward.

'_3…' _Naruto thought as he was two feet behind his prey. He then, while still on all fours, bent his upper back forward until it touched the floor.

'_2…' _Raising his lower back as high as he could, Naruto's golden tail wagged back and forth in a calm pace. His adrenaline starting to get the better of him as his slit pupil eyes narrowed.

'_1…'_ Naruto smiled a smile only a predator would smile just before pouncing his prey. With the countdown down to one, Naruto's muscles tensed up before springing him forward.

"AH!" Naruto shouted as he extended his arms out. His prey turned around and went wide eyed just before Naruto successfully pounced it.

"N-N-Naruto-kun…" Hinata stammered as Naruto hugged her while remaining on top of her. He chuckled as he got off Hinata and sat down like a dog would in front of her. Tailing wagging with energy that only he could manage, Naruto looked up at Hinata with his infamous fox smile she had gotten to see every day. It's been almost a month since Naruto first came to the academy and ever since then, nothing's been the same.

Iruka, who was there main sensei, seemed to have a love/hate brotherly relationship with Naruto. It all started the same day Naruto first came to school. Naruto had the misfortunate to need to use the bathroom right when the bell that ended lunch rang. Running to class, Naruto slammed the door open and had inadvertently hit Iruka's face with the door. The entire class laughed except for Iruka who was still dazed from the hit.

When asked if he was ok, Iruka's first response was giving Naruto detention, who yelled back that he didn't do anything. After a two minute argument, Naruto had gotten a full week of detention. When he came back the next day, Hinata noticed that Naruto had a smile on his face, much like Iruka did.

It was an odd bond those two shared and Hinata didn't know how to begin to describe it. However, if he wasn't in trouble or in harm's way, then Hinata could learn how to live with it. However, within the month, Hinata had come to learn a little bit more about Naruto. One thing she learned was, like her, he like red bean soup. Also, that apparently his favorite color was orange considering that he always wears his orange cloak to the academy. Also, she learned that he liked gardening. Not to a level Hinata did but enjoyed it nevertheless.

And that was it.

Blinking repeatedly, Hinata looked at Naruto who was currently tilting his head forwards with a cheeky smile. Hinata giggled at his antics and started to pet his golden fox ears with delight as Naruto started to purr. It seemed to Hinata that this was his most favorite activity to do. Well she could add that to the list of things she knew about Naruto but considering that they were close friends, it was quite a pitiful list. Her mood saddened at the realization that she wasn't a good friend since she didn't know much about Naruto.

With this, her petting started to slow down until her hands was just laying on top of his cuddly ears. He looked up at her in wonder and saw the frown upon her lips.

"What's wrong Hinata-chan?" He asked as he moved his face closers to hers. She snapped out of her depression and blushed seeing how close Naruto was. He smiled widely as he took a step back. "Why aren't you smiling?" He asked innocently.

"B-because… I'm n-not a good friend." She told him with her sights set on her toes which fidgeted a little.

"Who told you that? Was it that brown haired punk Takeo? Oh when I see him tomorrow-"

"N-No, he didn't d-do anything. It's just..." Hinata trailed off as she tried to put her feelings into words. "I-I…"

"Hinata-sama!" Hinata began to panic as she pushed Naruto into the nearest bush and made sure he was out of plain sight. Turning around, Hinata stood nervously under the gaze of her cousin. "Hinata-sama, why are you back here?" Was Neji's cold question. Hinata shivered at such coldness and fiddled with her index fingers.

"I-I-I was l-looking for something I-I dropped." She said in an attempt to mislead her cousin. If he were to find out about Naruto, he would undoubtedly go off to tell her father about him. It wasn't only the fact that he was a boy, but a boy with fox ears and tails to boot. Such a thing would to bode well with her father.

"I see, my apologizes. I thought I saw an orange blur run into you and I was merely making sure you were ok." Neji said though Hinata could tell Neji's words were far from the truth. He could care less if something happened to her; even if it was Kumo who had kidnapped her, she was sure he would've sneered at her and waved goodbye for the last time. The only reason he even should up was because he had heard rumors of an orange blur plaguing the streets and academy of Konoha. Supposedly, the blur is a quick and agile boy with the strength of ten men.

Of course they were only rumors, nothing but the truth being stretched to its limits right? Then again, there is supposedly a little truth behind every lie so, could he really be as strong as ten men or was that the lie? These were the thoughts that ran through Neji's mind; he wanted to find out himself how strong this orange blur was.

The bushes to her right started to rustle and Neji fell into his battle stance and prepared himself to activate the Byakugan.

"Show yourself!" He shouted and Hinata started to panic. If Neji saw Naruto's animalistic features… She couldn't believe her eyes when Naruto popped his head out of the bushes with his fox smile, that being the only fox characteristic about him. His ears, which were now human and on the sides of his head, looked slightly red and his round pupil was looking at both Neji and Hinata.

"Yo!" He said with a chuckle and his eyes closed. Neji raised his left eyebrow up and dropped his stance.

"Who are you?" He asked in spite and annoyance. Naruto's happy demeanor disappeared as he brought his entire body out of the bushes. Since this new kid wanted to be like that, it was fine with Naruto. All he had to do was take a deep breath and remember how his brother would handle the situation.

"Who the hell wants to know?" Naruto said with an irritated expression. Neji scoffed as he refused to back down to the new comer.

"I asked first." He said with an air of arrogance.

"I asked second but stating the obvious isn't going to help anyone." Naruto retorted as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Now I'll ask again, who… the hell… are you?" Naruto asked slowly.

"N-Naruto-san, th-this is my c-cousin, N-Neji Hyuga." Hinata answered, hoping to end the pointless feud between her cousin and Naruto. Naruto looked at her oddly.

'_San?'_ He thought as he saw Neji glare at her.

"You can't even say my name without stuttering like an idiotic individual. You are from the Hyuga clan, no start acting like it." Neji said as Hinata looked away from him with a grim look.

"Cousin huh, looks more like an ass to me." Naruto mumbled but was heard by both Hinata and Neji, the latter glaring fiercely at Naruto.

"N-Naruto-kun!" Hinata said loudly but was pushed aside by Neji who was now face to face with Naruto.

"What did you say?" He asked, his eyes daring Naruto to repeat his words.

"I said, looks more like an as-" Naruto doubled over from Neji's open palm to his stomach. Naruto growled as he swiped his claws at Neji but he was able to jump back, avoiding the blow all together. Naruto glared at Neji who had a sort of amused smile on his face.

"You're pretty quick for an academy student." Neji stated as his amused smile vanished along with the interested sparkle in his silver eyes. "However, I have no time to mess around with children."

"The hell? You're only one year older than I am!" Naruto shouted angrily.

"What is your name?" Neji asked, ignoring Naruto's comment. Naruto grunted as he gathered his bearings and stood up straight.

"Tch, the name's Naruto Uzumaki. I'm the orange blur you were referring to earlier." Naruto said as Hinata paled a bit. Now Neji definitely had a story to tell her father when they returned. Neji's amused smile returned but was not as wide as it was before.

"So you're the fast and agile boy with the strength of ten men?" Neji asked, a bit skeptically.

"'Ten men', Is that what they're saying now? Please, I'm way stronger than that." Naruto boasted as he smiled, showing off his irregularly sharp fangs. Neji sneered at his bold proclamation.

"To me, it appears that you can barely be stronger than Hinata-sama." Neji said, his tone biting whenever he said 'sama'.

"Stop insulting Hinata-chan you jerk!" Naruto yelled which earned him a smirk from Neji.

"Would you fight me for Hinata-sama's honor?" Neji asked in genuine curiosity.

"What?!" Hinata and Naruto shouted in confusion.

"You seem ready to fight for Hinata-sama's honor without a second thought so why not find out if you're just proclaiming hollow promises or giving your actual word." Neji said as he fell into his fighting stance. Naruto and Hinata looked at him like he grew a second end before Naruto's face broke out in a mirthful expression and he cracked his knuckles.

"Fine, let's go."

"W-Wait!" Hinata yelled as she stood in between Naruto and Neji. "Th-This is not a time t-to fight. N-Neji, we're g-going home." Hinata said in a voice filled with authority.

"I'm not going anywhere." Neji said boldly.

"T-Then I will go home a-alone and l-let father wonder w-why I returned… a-alone." She told him as she started to walk away. Neji sneered at Hinata before his gaze fell on Naruto.

"It seems that we'll have to postpone this fight." Neji said as he stood up.

"Whenever you're ready jackass." Naruto retorted as Neji's challenging smirk disappeared and replaced with a scowl. He walked away and started to follow after Hinata who was already a block away. Naruto watched them leave before he relaxed his breathing and his fox ears and tail popped from his body. His normal human ears disappeared and replaced with the side bangs of his golden locks.

He was glad he was able to learn at least one genjutsu from his stay in Iwa. Sneering in the direction Neji was walking to, Naruto turned his back and decided to look for other means to have fun.

[*.*.*.*]

"Troublesome." Choji looked up from his plate and saw Shikamaru with his eyes closed, his right cheek in his right hand and his right elbow on the table, supporting his head.

"What is it?" Choji asked after swallowing what little remained from his current order. Shikamaru opened his left eye before sighing and leaning back on the chair he as sitting on.

"Something's about to happen; something involving a blond haired person." Shikamaru stated lazily and Choji eyed him oddly as a waiter placed a new and fresh plate of barbeque in front of Choji.

"No way, there's just no way you're able to predict something like that." Choji said with doubt but Shikamaru shook his head.

"It's a curse of mine that I supposedly inherited from my father. It won't be here for another… ten seconds maybe." Shikamaru said after taking a short pause. Choji shook his head as he placed a third barbeque in his mouth.

"I just think… you're paranoid." Choji said in between gulps. The doors to Choji's favorite restaurant flew open and in an orange blur, Naruto appeared besides Choji with a barbeque in his left hand.

"Yo!" He greeted as he ate the barbeque in his hand. Shikamaru looked at the watch in his hands and sighed.

"I was only two seconds shy." He said, confusing Naruto who looked at him abnormally.

"Two seconds shy from what?" Naruto asked as Choji controlled himself from attacking Naruto. Looking at Choji, he saw that he was glaring at him. He then looked at the meat in his mouth before smiling sheepishly. "Y-You still want it?" He asked as he moved to give the half eaten barbeque he had but Choji sighed and shook his head.

"Just finish it." He said before quickly engulfing the rest of his food. Once he finished, Shikamaru and Choji, who pushed Naruto out of his way, made towards the exit. Naruto got up and followed after them.

"So, what are you guys doing for tomorrow?" Naruto asked as he walked in between them and placed an arm over both their shoulders. Shikamaru glared at him and Choji only looked at him.

"I'm going to have a huge feast at home tomorrow and then just relax with other family members." Choji answered and Naruto nodded his head happily. He turned his sights on Shikamaru who closed his eyes and shoved his hands in his pockets.

"I'm doing the same. Not out of the ordinary, just how I like it." He said as he shrugged off Naruto's arm. "Yo, Choji, we should probably go get those presents for our moms right about now." Shikamaru told Choji who had a face of someone who remembered something and nodded. Naruto switched from looking at Shikamaru and Choji.

"You got presents for your moms?" Naruto asked incredulous.

"That's right because there are two types of women in terms of not receiving presents. One will rip you apart verbally and/or physically if you didn't get them a present, the other will not mention it, but they will be saddened by the fact that they didn't' receive one. Neither is something I want to go through so Choji and I avoid it by giving our moms presents. So what about you?" Shikamaru asked looking expectantly at Naruto. Naruto stopped walking and looked down. Shikamaru raised an eyebrow and stopped walking along with Choji.

"I don't have a mom… at least, that I know of." He said.

"Ah man, I'm sorry, I didn't know." Shikamaru apologized and Naruto shook his head.

"It's ok."

"I… well, what about Hinata?" Choji asked, snapping both Shikamaru's and Naruto's heads up. "What?"

"What did you mean by that?" Naruto asked suspiciously.

"I thought you two were… you know, together." Choji answered and Naruto fell face first on the ground, his left leg twitching. Shikamaru smirked and let out a chuckle.

"No Choji, their not an item… though you wouldn't be able to tell by the way they act." Shikamaru said, saying the last part lowly but Naruto heard him loud and clear.

"What?!" He shouted louder and Shikamaru tilted his head to the side, away from Naruto.

"Nothing, nothing. So what are you going to get her?" Shikamaru asked, trying to change the subject.

"Why should I get her anything? She has a family that'll give her anything she wants." Naruto answered. He then noticed that Choji and Shikamaru were looking at him.

"Dude, that's cold." Choji said as he turned and walked off. Shikamaru placed a hand on Naruto's left shoulder and shook his head.

"While I do agree with you, I still think you should get her a present; it's the least troublesome thing you'll do." With that said, Shikamaru walked off after Choji, leaving behind Naruto to think over the words of his friends. He was staring at the sidewalk beneath him, wondering if he should go get a gift for Hinata after all. Gathering the small amount of money his brother would give him from time to time.

"Not much…" Looking around for a store, Naruto spotted a store that might just help him. Running towards the store, Naruto noticed that it was the same place he went to the day he arrived to Konoha. This time, the girl with brown hair wasn't working so diligently so she noticed Naruto walk into the store.

"Hello there, my name's Ayame, how may I help you?" Ayame asked with a smile and Naruto smiled back.

"Yeah, hi uhm… what do you sell here? I really need to get a present for someone and I need to do it fast." He asked and saw Ayame get a look of surprise.

"You don't know? Then you must not have been here for long." Ayame stated and Naruto shrugged his shoulders.

"I guess."

"Well young man, we sell ramen here. It's very delicious and I think you should try it." Ayame went to the back of the room where Naruto heard her talking to a second, older man and two minutes later coming back with a big bowl with steaming slowly rising from it. As soon as the smell of the food hit Naruto's senses, Naruto immediately fell in love with the food.

"Here, try some, on the house." Ayame offered with a warm, inviting smile. Naruto grabbed the nearest chopsticks and split it in half.

"Itadakimasu." Naruto said before digging into the ramen. It only rested on his tongue for only a millisecond before Naruto's eye sprang open and he consumed the entire bowl. Ayame sweat dropped when Naruto put the bowl and chopsticks down, finishing the ramen in record breaking time. "Can I have more?" Naruto asked with a beaming smile. Ayame chuckled.

"Do you have enough money?" She asked. Naruto reached into his pocket and pulled out every single coin he had. Counting it, Ayame nodded with the same smile on her face. "You have enough for three more bowls." Ayame moved to the back and Naruto cheered at the fact of getting more ramen. This was now his favorite food... that sounded a little wrong to Naruto but he ignored it when Ayame returned with another bowl of ramen.

"The other two will probably be done by the time you get this one finished. Enjoy!" Ayame informed him. Naruto only nodded and savagely eat the ramen in front of him. This time, Naruto decided to enjoy the taste of ramen massaging his taste buds. A minute later, he put the bowl down and patted his stomach. Two clanks alerted him that his thirds and fourths were here. He smiled and thanked Ayame as he concurred the two bowls of ramen in a short time span of three and a half minutes.

"Thanks Ayame, that was really good. I don't even remember why I came here but I'm glad I did." He said as he rubbed his stomach, though he was still hungry and knew he could eat another ten or so.

"I think you said something about getting a gift for someone." As soon as her last words left her lips, Naruto paled. Not only did he forget about getting a gift for Hinata… his last means of getting that present was now in the register behind the counter. Naruto slammed his head on the counter multiple times, calling himself stupid multiple times. "Uhm… are you ok?" Ayame asked as Naruto slowly stopped banging his head on the counter. The only signs that he'd done what he just did was the red mark on his forehead but in a second, it disappeared.

"I'm ok but I was supposed to use the money I spent on the ramen to buy a present for my friend." He said as he grabbed his face and moaned loudly. Ayame smiled as she walked from behind the counter and sat down beside him.

"Is this friend of yours a girl?" She asked innocently yet mischievously. Naruto nodded and her smile brightened. "Do you like her a lot?" Misinterpreting the way she meant it, Naruto nodded again.

"She's really cool and nice and I just messed it up." He said as he put his head in his hands, mumbling incoherent things into them. Ayame, though unfamiliar with the odd boy, placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. Naruto looked up and saw her smile.

"Listen… uhm…"

"Naruto."

"Naruto, girls really like it when you give them jewelry and/or expensive things. That's something to keep in mind but it's not the only thing they'd like to get from guys." Ayame told him with her left hand up, closed and only her index finger pointing up. "Sometimes, homemade presents that show how much they mean to you are all they really want." Naruto took these words to heart as he nodded his head.

"So you're saying that just because I don't have enough money for a store bought present… I should make her one instead?" Ayame nodded. "But what can I make?" He asked. Ayame placed her left hand on her chin in a thinking pose and hummed.

"Well, what does she like?" Ayame asked. Now it was Naruto who went into a thinking position similar to Ayame's.

"She likes cinnamon rolls, red bean soup… uhm… furry things…" He said the last one with a blush which Ayame did see. "What else… hmm, she likes… I don't know; girl stuff." Naruto said with an exasperated groan, crossing his arms over his chest with a humph. Ayame giggled and took into account everything she just heard.

"Ok, looks like you'll need my help with this." Ayame removed her apron and threw it behind the counter haphazardly. "Dad! I'm going out for a while." Ayame heard an 'ok' yelled from behind the counter and walked out of the food stand. "Come on, I think I know where to start shopping."

"Wait, but I have no money." Naruto said with a depressed tone but Ayame only shook her head with a smile.

"Don't worry, I'll pay for everything." She said as she took out a small bag-like thing and when she shook it, the sounds of coins clinging together could be heard.

"Are you sure?" He asked and Ayame nodded.

"And if you really want to pay me back, you can always come back to Ichiraku's ramen bar to eat." She said and Naruto nodded his head eagerly.

"Don't worry, I'll come visit you guys everyday!" Naruto said happily as he walked besides Ayame who giggled. Something in her gut told her he wasn't joking. Walking around, Ayame looked like a predator while hunting for its prey and Naruto had to wonder if all girls went to such extremes just for shopping. Stopping in front of a bakery, Ayame stepped in, followed by Naruto and walked up to the counter.

"Hello there, how may I help you?" The woman behind the counter, who appeared to be in her late twenties, said with pep.

"Hi, uhm, can I get five cinnamon rolls, to go please?" Ayame ordered and the woman behind the counter nodded and Ayame gave her the money before the woman left to the back. After five minutes, the woman returned and gave them a bag that had fresh cinnamon rolls. Ayame thanked her, along with Naruto, and they left and continued on to the store next to the one they just left.

"What are we doing here?" Naruto asked as he looked around the store and sneezed. They were in a pink colored store that was mostly stuffed animals and things girls liked. Naruto sneezed again as a small white feather fell on his nose.

"We're getting something furry." Ayame said as she started to search through a sea of stuffed animals. Naruto sweat dropped and sat in a chair close to Ayame and put the bag with the cinnamon rolls next to him. He leaned his head back and wondered if Hinata would like the present he and Ayame were getting for her. He then felt something soft land on his lap and he looked down. His eyes widened at the sight of a small, light blue bunny in a shy position and it immediately reminded Naruto of Hinata. He smiled warmly as he held it in his hands. He got up and was about to show it to Ayame when another thing caught his attention.

It was a yellow fox sitting on the floor next to the other stuffed animals, neglected and a bit dusty. Tough it was not a living, breathing one, but a small, yellow, furry stuffed fox. He picked it up and examined it with a calculating stare while brushing the dust away. It seemed… happy but also… afraid? No, that wasn't it, it was… obliviously sad. Almost as if, it knew it was missing something but, was just oblivious or ignorant of it.

Naruto closed his eyes and shook his head. He was looking too deeply into it; it was just a stuffed fox with a sad smile embedded on his mouth. Holding both with a firm grip and remembering to get the cinnamon rolls, Naruto walked up to Ayame and tapped her left shoulder. She looked up from her search and saw Naruto holding a yellow fox and a shy blue bunny. Ayame smiled and nodded her head.

"It's an odd choice but it's cute nevertheless." She said and walked with Naruto up to the guy behind the counter. Placing the two stuffed animals on the counter, Naruto took a step back as Ayame took out some money and paid for the two stuffed animals. Walking out of the store Naruto could only smile as he continued to look at the animals in his hands. They felt… different from the others. It was hard for him to explain but just the fact that they randomly came to him… it was really something.

"Thinking about your 'friend'?" Ayame asked with a teasing voice but scrunched her eyebrows together when a smile formed in Naruto's dazed expression. It wasn't big or anything but it was one of the happiest smiles she's seen him smile since they first met. "This girl means a lot to you huh?" Ayame asked seriously as they walked in the direction of Ichiraku's.

"Yeah, I guess she is. She was my first friend, I mean, my first real friend." He said as if he was in a trance. Ayame giggled and grabbed one of his arms.

"Well come on, there's one more thing we have to do to make this a great gift and it won't cost me a cent. You remember how I said that sometimes girls like it when the present is homemade?" Naruto nodded and Ayame smiled at him with her eyes closed. "Well…"

In Naruto's apartment, Naruto looked at the items in front of him with a dead pan expression. Looking up, he noticed that Ayame was cheekily smiling.

"Nuh-uh, I don't think I can do this." Naruto said as he took a step back but Ayame stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.

"Come on Naruto-kun, this is easy and it'll come straight from the heart." Ayame said in hopes to convince him. Naruto sighed and closed his eyes. Reopening them, they looked at Ayame questioningly.

"Are you sure?" Ayame nodded eagerly and Naruto sat down on the chair in front of him. "I'll listen to you… but only because you're a girl and you know about this stuff." Naruto grabbed the pen in front of him and the paper. Putting the tip in his mouth, he started to think long and hard.

'_What to write…'_ He thought. Finally coming up with something, Naruto started scribble words down as if he was going to die in a couple of minutes. He scratched out a few words and even drew in some chibi pictures. Ayame only giggled as she saw how hard Naruto was trying to write down his feelings and thoughts.

Naruto removed the imaginary sweat from his brow with his left arm as he put his down. He chuckled as he handed the paper to Ayame who took it and read it. Humming to herself as she read, Ayame giggled at the way Naruto wrote his card down. Nodding Ayame folded the paper in half and they walked to where a brown basket was resting on the couch.

"Go get the other things Naruto-kun." Ayame said, earning a nod from Naruto and him leaving to get the things in his room. When he came back, he gave Ayame the yellow fox and the bag of cinnamon rolls. When she didn't see the blue bunny, she looked at Naruto. "What about the bunny?"

"Oh that, that one's for me. It reminds me of Hinata so I thought I should keep it." He said innocently, not knowing that he gave Ayame another impression that he liked Hinata in _that_ way. Ayame nodded in understanding and started to arrange the fox and cinnamon rolls in the basket. Ayame smiled at her work and placed the card Naruto just made and put it in front of the fox, making it look like it was kissing the card.

"There, now all we have to do is wrap it up so she won't know what's inside and we're done." Naruto nodded and told Ayame were the wrapping paper was. When she left, Naruto smiled at the way the present looked and placed the blue bunny on the top of the couch, just above the present. He then felt a sudden disturbance in his bladder. Getting up, Naruto didn't notice that he knocked down the blue bunny. He then ran to the bathroom just as Ayame came into the room. "Where are you going?" She asked.

"The bathroom!" He said quickly and shut the door behind him. Ayame shrugged and sat on the couch beside Hinata's present.

"Oh?" She noticed that the blue bunny was in the basket and had knocked over the fox with the envelope. To Ayame, the way the bunny was put made the entire thing look better. Smiling, she started to wrap up the present. "Oh well, looks like he changed his mind." She said as she wrapped a lavender bow on top of the handle. "Done!" She said with a sense of accomplishment.

She heard the toilet flush and saw Naruto with a content look.

"Ok Naruto-kun, we're done, now all you gotta do is give it to… What's her name?" Ayame asked.

"Her name's Hinata." Ayame's eye widened at hearing the name of the heiress to the Hyuga Clan.

"Hinata? As in Hinata Hyuga, heiress to the Hyuga Clan?" She asked as she stood up, almost not believing Naruto.

"I guess. Wow, I didn't know she was the heiress. Man, I guess I don't know her like I thought I did." Ayame sweat dropped as Naruto rubbed the back of his head and chuckled sheepishly. "I better get this to her now, it's getting pretty late." Grabbing the present, Naruto jetted out the door. "Thanks a lot Ayame!" He yelled. Ayame stood up and walked out of Naruto's apartment. She chuckled at the memories on how she spent her day; such an odd character that Naruto.

[*.*.*.*]

Hinata sat on her bed in her room with her knees up and encircled by her arms. She sighed as she let her head rest on her arms as her thoughts drifted to her father's reaction to Neji's debriefing as her temporary bodyguard. He seemed amused yet annoyed at the same time. About what, Hinata knew she'd never find out.

Whether there was a reason behind his amusement, he still deemed it necessary to punish her. So that's what she was going now… serving her punishment. Downstairs, her father, sister and cousin who were just there to make sure the former two were content, as they ate dinner. Hinata didn't care however, she wasn't hungry anyways.

Her stomach growled and she whimpered as she held her stomach in pain. It was no use, she was starving and she knew it. She wished she could join her family downstairs to eat, even though their family meals always had that awkward moment of silence to them. She cursed herself for not eating anything earlier.

After she woke up in the morning, she had a quick slice of toast with jam and went to practice out at a random training ground. After that, she decided to take a break and just relax under a tree. During the middle of the relaxing, Hinata felt eyes staring at her with malice and derision. She knew who it was immediately, apparently, her father still thought of her too weak to walk around Konoha without getting hurt.

She sighed as she let her cousin be and continued to relax, pushing away the thoughts of her cousin glaring at her from her thoughts. Then… it happened.

"_Ah!"_ Hinata unconsciously smiled as she remembered Naruto letting out a war cry before pouncing her. Hinata blushed as she remembered feeling him on top of her. She wasn't sure if he was aware of it but when he was on top of her for that short time span, he let out an animalistic growl. It was soft and warm, not the kind used to scare off other animals or enemies. Just the way they were… it was enough to make Hinata's heart pound in her chest and her breathing to become shallow.

Hinata wondered why she felt such powerful feelings just being around him. She felt inspired to be better, motivated to achieve more than asked of her and to be a better person in general. It seemed to her, he was her source of happiness, motivation and courage. She smiled with a little mirth; she could even say she was jealous of his happiness, of the seemingly limitless energy and fighting spirit he had. He had what she wanted, what she wanted to make her father finally acknowledge her as the heiress of the Hyuga Clan and as his daughter.

Of course he had acknowledged her last month but that was out of pity and sadness. No, Hinata wanted her father to look at her and see the daughter he deserved and always wanted; a strong and competent kunoichi who would leave an impact on not only the Hyuga Clan but with Konoha as well.

But what she wanted was something that was simply out of her reach. She had no confidence in her own abilities and always doubted herself in times where such thinking would likely get her killed.

Hinata shook away all those negative thoughts from her mind; she was getting off the subject.

Naruto… Naruto Uzumaki. A mystery to her even though he considers her a close friend. She sighed for she knew she was anything but a close friend. She didn't know anything about him; just that he likes the color orange, red bean soup and gardening to a certain degree… and that he would sometimes appear with fox ears and tail and sometimes, he'd look completely normal…

"…" Hinata raised her head from her arms and looked emptily at the area in front of her. It never occurred to her that he would have fox traits one minute and then look completely normal the next. When he first showed her his features, Hinata was too captivated in her sadness, his ears and tail's fluffiness and cuteness that she didn't even bother to ask him why he had them. And even in the month into their friendship, Hinata barely, if not at all, saw Naruto's fox ears and tail. Today was the first in two weeks, the least, she's seen them.

Hinata shifted in her place on her bed and felt something hard under her pillow. Moving that to the side, Hinata gasped as she grabbed the box that was under her pillow.

"Naruto-kun's gift." Hinata muttered as the box rattled whenever she shook it. She then remembered what was in the box and placed it on her nightstand near her bed. Tomorrow was Christmas so she could always give it to him then. She had planned on giving it to him after her training earlier today but…

Getting up, Hinata sighed and walked up to the window in her room and opened it. She looked up at the moon that was currently shining proudly and brightly over Konoha in its place up in the dark sky. It was truly a nice night and the fact that it was winter only added to the night's beauty. Since it was too warm to snow most winters, Konoha usually had passing breezes and rain. Tonight however, there wasn't a cloud in the sky and the rain drops from the precious day still kept the grass and other places wet. As such, the moon's light refracted from the droplets of water and they glistened in the darkness of the night.

Seeing movement down below her, Hinata looked down and was surprised by the late night visitor.

"Naruto-kun?"

[*.*.*.*]

Naruto was currently running down the street that led to Hinata's house. Well, he didn't really know that, he had been walking around in circles for so long that the moon was already out and he knew his brother was probably out looking for him. He didn't care though, he had a mission to complete and he wasn't going to stop until he was sure it was done. Finally picking up Hinata's scent after failing to numerous times, Naruto was led to a huge compound. From his place, Naruto saw an enormous front yard and what seemed to be a garden of sorts in the backyard.

Sneaking past the guards that insured the safety of the Hyuga compound, Naruto walked up to the front door and brought his hand up. Closing his fist, Naruto reared it back slightly and would've knocked on the door if it wasn't for a voice calling him out.

"Naruto-kun?" He looked up and smiled seeing Hinata looking back at him through her window. He waved at her and hid the present behind his back. She looked around to see if he was spotted and then motioned him with her hands to get up to her room. He then saw her disappear into her room and Naruto smirked.

Naruto, making sure the present would not get damaged, bent down as far as he could before springing up and landing gracefully on Hinata's window sill. Hinata gasped as she heard Naruto's feet hit her wooden floor.

"H-How'd you get here so q-quickly?" She asked in her surprise as she turned to face him. She hadn't expected him to get up to her room as fast as he did. She expected him to struggle to find a way up while she put on something a little more decent.

"Well, let's just say I'm light on my feet." He said with a chuckle. He then noticed that Hinata had on light blue pajama pants with a spaghetti string white shirt. And it was then Naruto was stricken with a sudden revelation… the night air was cold…

Blushing, Naruto turned and face the opposite side of Hinata's room. Hinata, noticing his blush before turning, turned around herself and grabbed her beige jacket that she thankfully forgot to hang in her closet and left on the floor. Putting it on and feeling comfort in it, Hinata cleared her throat with a faint blush on her face. Naruto turned around and saw that she had her jacket on. Shaking away his earlier uneasiness, Naruto smiled at her with his canine teeth showing.

"I got something for you Hinata-chan!" He said in a childish voice. Hinata raised an eyebrow, she wondered how she hadn't notice him hiding something behind his back. "Here!" He said as he moved his hands from behind his back and showed her a gift wrapped basket. She saw the lavender bow and light blue wrapping paper and some bumps popping out. She looked up at him, staring into his cerulean eyes that showed his happiness at getting her a present.

"Merry Christmas!" He cheered as Hinata slowly but surely grabbed the present from his hands. "Oh and you might want to open it soon… but not while I'm here." He moved to jump out of her room but then she remembered his present.

"Wait Naruto-kun." Naruto stopped in mid jump and hit his head against the window, almost shattering it. He held his head and turned to look at her. "I-I'm sorry but I… I got something f-for you t-too." She said as she clutched the box on her nightstand and handed it to Naruto.

"Hey, thanks!" He said looking at the box and then at Hinata. "Good night Hinata-chan and Merry Christmas." He said as he jumped out the window. Hinata ran to her window but didn't see him anywhere. She was surprised; he really was light on his feet. Turning to her present, Hinata decided to follow Naruto's advice and open it. She sat on her bed in the lotus position, put her present in her lap and started unwrapping her present while trying not to ruin the paper.

After she was done, she gasped at the sight of the paper bag with the logo of her favorite bakery. She opened it and saw that while not completely fresh, the cinnamon rolls were still warm. Hinata reached and took a cinnamon roll from inside of the bag. She bit down and she closed her eyes, moaning at the savory taste the cinnamon rolls had in her mouth.

Finished with the first one quickly; Hinata took out a second one. With the cinnamon roll in her mouth, Hinata saw that there was more to the gift than cinnamon rolls. The cinnamon roll fell from her mouth as a dark shade of red appeared over her creamy pale skin. In the basket was two stuffed animals; one was a light blue bunny and another was a yellow fox. Both, in her eyes, looked like they were trying to kiss each other if it weren't for the folded paper in between their path.

Brushing a stray midnight blue to the back of her left ear, Hinata grabbed the paper in between the two stuffed animals and 'eep'ed when the two animals mouths, or in the fox's case snot, came in contact. Ignoring the animals for now, Hinata opened the paper and started to read it aloud.

"'_Hey there Hinata-chan. I guess the first thing I should write is MERRY CHRISTMAS! Uhm… I'm not very good at this since I haven't had much practice in it. I guess I should tell you how much you mean to me.'_" Hinata stopped reading and felt her heart beat quickly. Taking in deep breaths, Hinata continued. "_'You were, and still are, my first real friend. When I first met you, I knew you and me would get along great. And I was right! The first month in the academy was so much fun. You remembered when Sasuke tried to cut me in line when we were practicing our kunai/shuriken throws? He never saw that kunai coming that's all I know._

"_Anyways, I don't know what to say now so… Merry Christmas Hinata-chan and try to be more confident in yourself, you always look cuter when you do.'_" Hinata reread the last part of the sentence. Over and over she said it and still it didn't register in her mind.

"C-Cute?" She thought. She blinked repeatedly as she stared at her feet and then at the two stuffed animals. Naruto Uzumaki… definitely a mystery.

Up on Hinata's roof, Naruto was happily sitting down in the lotus position as well, opening the present Hinata had given him. When he opened it, his eyes gleamed at the sight of a necklace, though it was no ordinary necklace. It consisted of a number of round, dark purple beads, which he guessed was about forty two or so, and between every seven or so were comma shaped, white beads. In fact, there were two necklaces; both were pretty big and a note fell when Naruto took both necklaces out. Picking it up, Naruto read it aloud.

"_Naruto-kun, please enjoy your present and I hope you have a great Christmas. Also, the second necklace if for your aniki. Hinata.'_"Naruto smiled as he put the note in his pocket and put on the necklace. Naruto jumped to his feet and headed home, hoping his aniki wouldn't be too mad. Because he was in a hurry to get home, he failed to notice the beads in the necklace glow a dim light for a few seconds before it dimmed.

Unknown to either of the two, a dark silhouetted watched from an electric pole as Naruto placed the necklace over his neck. One article of his clothing flowed freely as another breeze passed. The silhouette's long slash soon lost its movements as the passing breeze left. Another silhouette, much shorter than the one to its right, approached the taller silhouette while taking deep breaths as he finished climbing the electric pole.

"Milord, there is the child we have come to find. Why are you letting him escape?" The short silhouette asked holding a stick much taller than it.

"We must be patient Jaken; there is no hurry to get the boy." The taller silhouette said with such tranquility that it confused the now identified Jaken.

"And why is that, if I may ask milord." Jaken said. Turning his body, the silhouette faced the opposite direction Naruto was heading.

"He will come to us… whether he knows it or not." The silhouette said before a sparkling dust cloud appeared under his feet and sent him into flight. Jaken jumped to try to fly with his master but was just shy from making it. He fell down to the unforgiving ground and twitched uncontrollably in pain.

"Why Lord Sesshōmaru, why?" He mumbled as he soon got up and chased after his master.

* * *

**So that's it for now... now that Sesshōmaru and his annoying little imp, Jaken, are brought into the plot, what trouble awaits Naruto and possibly Inuyasha? For what reason did Sesshōmaru seek out Naruto? What had he done or most likely... what does his heritage have to do with this? **

**And what of Hinata? Why did she give Naruto and Inuyasha those necklaces? What significance do they hold? Answers will be given while more questions will rise... Until next time!**

**Next Chapter: Competition, yōkai blood vs Uchiha blood...**

**Good luck with whatever and if you got a problem with me or one of my stories, please feel free to: Deal with it, Get over it or Choke on it!  
_-P.S. Happy Holidays!_**


	6. Competition, yōkai blood vs Uchiha blood

**Ok, new update...**

**I was thinking about postponing this to tomorrow but I decided against it since I had nothing better to do and had no reason to do so...**

**Uhm... Besides the fact that we introduce our second heroine in this chapter, I got nothing to add... Oh actually, does the author notes look better centered? Just wondering cuz I kind of wanted to do this for a while now but always forgot...**

**Chapter 6: Competition, yōkai blood vs Uchiha blood...**

**_*Dreams pass into the reality of action. From the actions stems the dream again; and this interdependence produces the highest form of living* -_****_ANAIS NIN_**

**[By the way, I think I'm going to start posting random quotes... why? not sure... entertains me to a certain degree...]**

**I don't own Naruto or Inuyasha...**

* * *

"…"

Hinata looked nervously around and then back at the one next to her.

"…" He was just lying there, doing nothing and if he didn't do something soon…

"*snore*…" Hinata flinched when she heard Naruto snore and she looked up to the front of the class to see Iruka glaring at Naruto. He cleared his throat, hoping to wake the sleeping hanyō but to no avail.

"_Naruto-kun…_" Hinata whispered and even kicked him from the side, but he still didn't wake up. She kicked him again, this time with more force but only caused him to mutter some incoherent words.

"Run Jerry… Tom's going to get you." Naruto muttered and everyone started to giggle, even Hinata who found his sleep talking cute and amusing. She snapped out of her gaze on him and noticed that Iruka was now standing over him with a ruler in his hands. Hinata's eyes widened when she saw the ruler.

'_N-Not the ruler!'_ She thought in fear for Naruto who was blissfully unaware of Iruka and the ruler.

"Wake up; this is no time to be sleeping!" Iruka yelled as he raised the ruler over his head and brought it down over Naruto's head, causing the sounds of ruler smacking flesh fill the room. Everyone, including Sasuke, flinched as the sound entered their eardrums. Naruto woke up immediately and grabbed his head.

"Ah!" He yelled as he rubbed the spot on his head where he was just hit. He closed his left eye in pain and looked up at Iruka with his one remaining eye. "The hell was that about?!" Naruto yelled and quickly grabbed the ruler from Iruka's grasp. He started to apply pressure to it but then it disappeared. Naruto looked at his empty palm before looking up and seeing the ruler in Iruka's hands again.

"Naruto, do you even know what we're talking about?!" Iruka asked in annoyance. Naruto took in a deep breath and stood up.

"NO!" He said and made Iruka sweat drop. Naruto mumbled a few choice words and then sat down and went back to sleep. However, before he left the world of the waking, he saw Iruka preparing to smack him again and he smirked. A second before it made contact, Naruto jumped back and let the ruler smack the desk instead of his head. The impacting sound caused everyone to once again flinch. Naruto smirked and was about to taunt Iruka but Iruka threw the ruler and it hit Naruto dead on his forehead.

"AH!" Naruto shouted as he fell to the floor and held his head. "AH MY HEAD! THE HELL IS THAT RULER MADE OF?! IT HURTS EVEN MORE THAN THE FIRST HIT!" Naruto yelled as he slowly got up to his feet. He then pointed an accusing finger at Iruka. "That's child abuse ya jerk!" He continued but Iruka shrugged it off.

"If you weren't sleeping then maybe we wouldn't be in this situation." Iruka said as he grabbed the ruler and headed back to the front of the classroom. Naruto growled as he felt his genjutsu start to drop. He panicked and immediately sat down and hid under the desk. Hinata saw this and looked under and saw his hair start to shimmer. Before she could wonder what that was about, she saw that it momentarily flashed, showing his golden fox ears before it disappeared.

Naruto got out from under the desk and sat down on his chair. He growled at those who looked at him oddly and even put some killing intent to those who refused to look away. Naruto then put his head on his arms and sighed, he really hated the academy now. Through the genjutsu, his fox ears twitched at the clanging sounds coming from his neck. He looked down and smiled as he saw the necklace Hinata gave him yesterday. He looked at Hinata who was strangely enough looking at him before blushing and looking away.

"_Yo, Hinata-chan._" Naruto whispered as Iruka started to draw all twelve basic hand signs on the board. Hinata looked at him but didn't turn her head. "_Thanks again for the necklace!_" Hinata nodded her head and smiled. Naruto smiled back and started to fiddle with it.

"Naruto Uzumaki!"

"I didn't do it, you can't prove it!" Naruto yelled after being distracted. He looked down and saw Iruka glaring at him again. "Oh, Iruka-sensei, it's just you. For a second, I thought you were the ANBU." Naruto said as he leaned back on his chair with a sigh of relief.

"Why would… never mind. Anyways, why aren't you paying attention?" Iruka asked and Naruto shrugged.

"Maybe you're just not a good enough teacher. Maybe I'm a genius and need to have my own tutor." Naruto mocked as he continued to play with his necklace and Iruka walked up to him.

"Or maybe it's because you're playing with your necklace." Iruka said as he grabbed Naruto's necklace and was about to remove it but the thing wouldn't budge. He tried again but the beads suddenly shined and refused to leave Naruto's neck.

"Would you look at that, looks like the thing doesn't want to leave me." Naruto joked as Iruka continued to try to take it off. After five minutes of unsuccessful attempts, Iruka walked off, telling Naruto to focus. Naruto grunted as he played with his necklace, he didn't care what Iruka said, he could beat anyone here down without so much as breaking a sweat. Well, except for Hinata, she was too close to him for him to actually want to hurt. Maybe Shikamaru and Choji too.

Despite their attempts to not get involved with his pranks, he knew they considered him a friend just like he considered them friends. Kiba… well, when he'd drop his alpha male attitude, he was a pretty cool kid to hang around. Unfortunately, that was only when they would play dodgeball and Naruto was on Kiba's team. Also, when he joined Naruto on his pranks.

The last one he joined him on was placing an almost invisible tack on Iruka's chair. Naruto's most favorite prank was when Kiba agreed to distract Iruka early in the morning while Naruto replaced Iruka's usual dango with a similar looking bread baked with dirt and a dead mouth and also putting hot sauce in his coffee.

Iruka's face after eating the dirt and moth dango was hilarious but his reaction to drinking his hot sauce coffee was priceless.

Naruto scratched his head in confusion, what was he thinking about again… Kiba. Yeah, that kid needed to stop being a jerk and then maybe he'd be considered a true friend. Sakura; well, not exactly an enemy but not a friend either. While she didn't necessarily treat him like Ino does, she did have her fangirl side that really annoyed Naruto. Ino, well, same as Sakura except Ino had a higher degree of fangirlism.

Shino was more like an acquaintance, not one to talk but when he did, Naruto would barely understand his words or at least the way he used them. He was cool and all but sometimes, Naruto thought he had to throw himself out there and act like a normal kid his age. And Sasuke…

Naruto glared at his rival, he couldn't stand the stuck up Uchiha. Sasuke had always called him dobe and a loser and Naruto was already getting sick of it. It's only been a little over a month and already he wanted to leave. He might have been joking about the private tutor at first but now it wasn't sounding like a bad idea.

Sensing that someone was staring at him, Sasuke looked back and his eyes came in contact with Naruto's. Dark, emotionless ebony eyes stared back at deep, angered blue eyes. After a second, Sasuke grunted and turned his focus on Iruka, only to close his eyes and start to muse to himself. Naruto growled and left it at that; he couldn't do anything from here.

"Ok class, now we're going to go outside and practice some more kunai/shuriken throwing and Naruto, please wait for your turn. We don't want another repeat of what happened to Sasuke." Naruto chuckled as Sasuke and his fangirls glared at Naruto.

"What?! Come on, tell me that wasn't funny." Shikamaru and Choji, who did think that it was funny, stifled their laughs, not wanting to be subjected to the fangirl's rage. Hinata did the same. "Whatever, I won't do it again, I promise."

Outside, Takeo, the brown haired bully, was throwing five kunai knives and five shuriken at two bulls-eyes, stacked on top of each other and tied to a tree. He hit the target twice; the two were kunai and had missed the other three kunai and five shuriken. Each student was given five shuriken and five kunai and they were to hit each target to the best of their ability.

"Ha-ha, nice try princess, maybe next time!" Naruto mocked as Takeo glared at him and made his way to the back of the line. Naruto was eager to go up, wanting to show up the Uchiha prick. Right now, Shino was able to make an average throw, hitting one bulls-eye with a kunai and only missing the target by two shurkien.

As more started to test their accuracy, Naruto noticed that Hinata was a lot quieter than usual.

"Hinata-chan, what's wrong?" Hinata looked at him before looking at the ground while poking her two index fingers together.

"I-I don't think I can d-do this." She said and Naruto shook his head.

"Of course you can! Come on, you just have to believe in yourself." Naruto said and Hinata nodded her head with a smile, though Naruto saw that it was a false. "Hinata-chan, if you don't try your best, then you'll be proving Takeo and the other jerks right." Hinata looked into space, deep in thought and Naruto heard his name being called. He walked up to the line drawn for him to stand and he took five shuriken and kunai. Tossing them, he smiled at seeing two kunai hit the bulls-eye, one shuriken hit the bulls-eye under the kunai and the others at least hadn't miss the target.

Looking at Sasuke, he growled seeing him with a bored expression. He walked to the back of the line and Sasuke walked up to the line. Grabbing his shurikens, Naruto growled louder at seeing him hit the bulls-eyes with every kunai and shuriken except for two kunai and three shuriken. His fangirls applauded at his success but he ignored it, false worship was something he didn't appreciate.

After two other academy kids Naruto didn't know went, Hinata was called up and smiled nervously as she took her place behind the line.

"Go Hinata-chan!" Naruto shouted with a raise of his arm. Some kids glared at them but Naruto glared at them right back. He was cheering for his friend and there was no way peer pressure was going to stop him. Hinata gulped nervously as her hand trembled to grab her kunai and shuriken. Iruka gave her a smile and she smiled back, though it was once again false.

Hinata let out a breath as she dropped to a stance and threw the first five kunai in one go. She was able to hit near the bulls-eye by a mere inch and Naruto smiled but Hinata was only saddened by this. She hated herself for not able to at least get one bulls-eye; her father expected her to be the best in the class but at the rate she was progressing…

"Good job Hinata-chan! Five more shuriken to go!" Hinata opened her eyes and looked back at Naruto who was giving her a thumbs up.

"Hey man, shut up already!" A boy said from inside the crowd. Hinata giggled when she saw Naruto walk up to the boy and grab him by his collar.

"What'd you say?!" Feeling a bit better, Hinata readied herself and threw the shurikens as accurately as she could. She was surprised when three of the shurikens hit its mark. "That's how you do it Hinata-chan!" Naruto cheered and Iruka smiled at her.

"Good job Hinata, you are tied with Naruto for second place." Hinata happily smiled and walked back to the end of the line where Naruto was waiting for her. He smiled at her and gave her a thumbs up again.

"You see, I told you you'd do it!" Hinata blushed at his praise and muttered a thank you. Naruto just kept smiling as the other kids went to on to throw kunai/shuriken.

[*.*.*.*]

Naruto yawned as he walked home. It was only two in the afternoon and he just wanted to go to bed. The academy was pretty boring considering that Kiri's academy expected their kids to do hands-on practice instead of lecture listening crap Konoha had. Naruto made a mental note to talk to the old man about that one of these days.

Such pitiful techniques the school uses to teach them. Not only do words not help in battle but when they actually go out into the world, they won't have the right instincts or mind set to handle whatever situation rises. At least Kiri, though he didn't agree with the graduation exam, actually had their kids do something instead of just making them sit on their butts and have them listen to their sensei, who puts their class to sleep.

Speaking of which, Naruto felt like sleeping now. He closed his eyes as he felt another yawn coming. With his eyes closed, he didn't see the rock in front of him and when he stepped on it, it made him lose balance and fall on the side. Normally, this would be a problem but considering that he was at the top of a hill, there was a problem.

Naruto rolled all the way down to the bottom of the hill and landed just a few feet away from the lake. Standing, he saw his world spinning as he felt his equilibrium leave and return to him every few seconds. Finally regaining his composure, Naruto took in his surroundings.

He recognized the place immediately as the place he first saw Sasuke. Deciding that relaxing by the lake wasn't a bad idea, Naruto sat down on the grass and started to doze off. His last thoughts were that of how much he wanted to change the academy.

Naruto scrunched his face up as he felt a somewhat harsh kick land on his ribs. A second, much stronger kick woke him up and he stood up, holding his left ribs. His vision still blurry, Naruto squinted his eyes until he could make out a kid his age wearing a blue shirt, white shorts and black hair. After he rubbed away the sleep from his eyes, Naruto identified the blur as Sasuke.

"The hell you want teme?" Naruto asked and Sasuke glared at him.

"I want you to leave." He said in an annoyed tone. Naruto shook his head and sat back down.

"Well too bad, I like it here and I might just come here every day." Naruto said putting his hands behind his back. When he got no reply, Naruto looked at Sasuke who looked even angrier than before.

"Leave dobe before I make you."

"You know Sasuke I'm getting sick and tired of your attitude." Naruto got up to his feet as he spoke. "You're just some stuck up prick with everything he's ever wanted but still begs for more." Sasuke's eyes narrowed as Naruto continued his rant. "I barely have anything but I'm fine, I don't want anything I don't need. But you, you're only a glorified brat put on a pedestal for show." Naruto said as he walked up to Sasuke.

"Dobe, you have less than five seconds to leave before I beat you down." Sasuke said through clenched teeth.

"I'm not going anywhere! Why do you act like a prick Sasuke?! Tell me!" Sasuke pushed Naruto back and fell into a battle stance.

"I don't have to tell you anything." He said as he attacked Naruto. Naruto ducked under his fist and jumped back from a spinning heel kick. Naruto growled as Sasuke began to assault him. Naruto tried to punch him a couple of times but Sasuke was too quick to be hit. Deciding that the hit-and-run method was not going to work, Naruto ducked under a left hook and grabbed Sasuke's right leg right before it was able to connect with his sternum.

Naruto smiled as Sasuke's face contorted to one of surprise. Pushing his foot down, Naruto jumped up and kicked Sasuke's chest with the soles of his feet. Sasuke was sent reeling back and then skidded to a halt. He held his chest and felt his breathing become labored; that kick had knocked the wind out of him. Sasuke eyed Naruto as he flipped in midair from the kick and landed on his feet with a smile.

"What are you smiling about?" Sasuke asked, a little peeved about the smile.

"The supposedly great Uchiha took the first blow." Naruto taunted, angering Sasuke even more. Sasuke clamped his teeth together as he ran at Naruto and jumped in the air. Naruto threw his arms in front of his body in an "X" formation as Sasuke started to kick down on him before pushing him back with the soles of his feet. Naruto smirked as he felt his arms heal from Sasuke's kicks. For a human, he was pretty tough.

After Sasuke landed, he didn't waste any time charging at Naruto. Naruto ran at him, meeting him half way and both started to throw their punches and kicks. Naruto swerved past Sasuke's kicks and punches and Sasuke was able to do the same. Finally, Sasuke jumped high into the air and spun forward. Extending his left leg, he brought it down on Naruto who grabbed his left ankle with his right hand. Sasuke smirked as he threw a right hook at Naruto who grabbed it with his left hand.

With Naruto's hands full, Sasuke shifted his weight to his left side and was able to cock his right leg up before it connected sharply with Naruto's midsection. Naruto doubled over as he let go of Sasuke and took three steps back. Sasuke wasn't through as he went through some hand signs and took in a deep breath.

"**Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!**" Naruto took in the words Sasuke spoke and looked up in awe as the fireball headed his way. He had no time to move as the fireball enveloped him and smoke was kicked up. Sasuke panted as he watched Naruto's figure disappeared in the fireball's explosion. He smirked, he knew he hadn't killed him but at least he'd be unconscious with some burns.

Sasuke wasn't counting on Naruto jumping out of the cloud of smoke with his right fist hiding behind his back. Sasuke gasped as Naruto threw his fist forward and it connected with Sasuke's left cheek. Sasuke faded into unconsciousness before the impact his head had colliding with the grassy ground woke him up again. He spun and rolled until he fell into the lake. Naruto was panting as well as his orange cloaked started to burn away. Naruto scoffed as he ripped off his cloak and threw it into the lake, watching the flames fizzle out of existence.

Naruto then noticed that Sasuke wasn't coming back up. He was either waiting for the perfect moment to strike or he was drowning. A sudden memory flashed in Naruto's mind as he remembered sinking into the bottom of a river almost eight years ago. He cursed his good and humane side as he ran up to the lake and jumped in after Sasuke.

Sasuke watched as the darkness of the lake was starting to overcome him. He felt his body fall deeper into the lake and he let out of few air bubbles out from cursing Naruto. It wasn't that he didn't know how to swim; it was that last hit Naruto delivered. It basically knocked him out and the only reason he was conscious now was because he hit his head against the ground, waking him up. Now, his appendages were refusing his command to swim and he could feel his lungs beginning to lose air.

What now? He was losing oxygen, his arms and legs weren't responding and no one knew he was drowning. No one except Naruto but Sasuke doubted he stayed after delivering that devastating right hook. Sasuke hated this, he wasn't meant to die, not yet, not until his brother perished by his hands. He would not die, he spat on the idea. But any means to kill his brother or surviving were shattered as soon as Sasuke fell into the lake.

His thoughts started to wander to the corners of his mind as he felt himself losing consciousness. Before he could completely lose consciousness, he thought he saw a dark blue and orange blur swimming towards him.

[*.*.*.*]

Sasuke sat up with sweat drenching his face and upper body. He looked around and found that he was in his room. How? Wasn't he drowning at the bottom of a lake? He pushed aside his covers and noticed that he was still wearing his normal clothes; in fact, they were even a little moist. He was snapped out of his observings when he heard glass break from the kitchen. He ran out of his room and into the kitchen to see a kid his age with a dark blue jacket and pants bending over and cleaning up the glass he broke.

"Who are you?" Sasuke asked and was surprised to see Naruto standing up and rubbing the back of his head.

"Sorry about the glass, I can fix it." Sasuke glared at him and then at the glass on the floor.

"Forget the glass, how did you know where I lived?" Sasuke asked. Naruto sighed and brushed all the glass to the corner with the yellow broom in his hands.

"You'd be surprised how many fangirls there are in this village who know where you live." Sasuke sweat dropped; he should've known. "Don't get me wrong, I still don't like you, but I don't hate you enough to let you drown at the bottom of the lake." He said as he walked past Sasuke and to the front door. He opened it but didn't leave right. "Oh and Sasuke…"

"What?" Sasuke asked.

"You might want to buy a new lock; the fangirls have their own keys now." Naruto closed the door and his words caused Sasuke to shiver in fear; now knowing where his towels and other possessions were disappearing to. A thought entered Sasuke's mind and he ran to open the front door. Outside, he spotted Naruto jumping down from the second floor of his apartment and land without a problem.

"Naruto," Naruto turned and look up at Sasuke who had an unreadable expression. "Don't expect me to owe you anything." Naruto smirked and then walked away; no words needed to be said. Sasuke watched him leave and went inside to change into fresh clothes and grab his money; he needed to buy a new lock and quick.

[*.*.*.*]

In a faraway place, a young woman with long midnight blue hair watched her peaceful town and its people from up in her room. She watched with bright, beige eyes as the people walked around town; running errands and the like to make a living. She faintly smiled as she saw a small child being held by her mother, cuddled against her mother's shoulder as she continued to suck on her thumb. She also saw a street vendor selling his ripe fruits to a young man with short brown hair.

Hojo, if she remembered correctly, was the young man's name. He had always had a crush on her ever since they first met. She liked him, but not the same way he does. The poor boy had deluded himself into thinking that he stood a chance with her.

In all honesty, she didn't think so highly of herself to think that no boy was worth her love and affection; just that she was in no position to be thinking about love. She had a job, an obligation to her village that she could not run away from, something she could not just ignore.

"Milady," The dark blue haired maiden turned to see her closest friend bowing in front of her. The only reason she was even considered her friend was because she was the one who was usually sent to her in times of need. "Your assistance is need up in Mount Hakurei; the demons are beginning to become restless again."

The young maiden stood and wrapped her black cloak around her.

"Ok, thank you." The maiden said and her closest friends bowed again and left the room. Grabbing her bow and arrow and sacred sutras, the young girl looked up at Mount Hakurei from her window. In the distance, a slithering demon could be seen flying into the sky. She took in a deep breath as she left the room.

Mount Hakurei was once a sacred mountain of absolute purity and divinity. Beautiful flowers skimmed the surface, from the earth to the mountain formation itself, a place where no demon dared to enter. However, that was before an evil entity made itself known, tainting the mountain and destroying all the wildlife in it.

Now, the only way to prevent the demons from destroying her peaceful village was to put up scared sutras around her village, in the mount's base and the entrances of its caves. As she stepped out of her home and into her village, taking note that many bowed to her or looked at her with lust, pride, joy or assurance. If it weren't for her, the demons on Mount Hakurei would've pillaged the place and killed everyone by now.

She faintly smiled at the little girls who dressed up like her; wearing a white jacket with cords through the sleeves and the open shoulders, a bright red hakama, which include the small board at the lower back, red obi, socks and rice straw sandals.

Following the trail that led to Mount Hakurei, the young woman was soon lost in thought.

Why? That was the question that plagued her minds from time to time. Why was she given a huge responsibility at such a young age? She was only fourteen yet her village had given her the task as the village's priestess; their miko. She sighed sadly; as much as she loved her village, she wished she could run away and live a normal life with the one she loved. However there were two problems with that.

The first was that she was the priestess; that meant that she had to stay in the village to make sure that no demon would ever threaten their safety. The only way she could be relieved of her duties is if a better, more experienced priest/priestess was found or if the village was destroyed. Since she would rather die than watch her precious village be destroyed and there was no priest/priestess as skilled as she was, she would never be relieved of her duties.

The second problem was that she had not find her true love yet. Of course the men in her village would continually shower her with affection and love but that is only because of her title; they do not see the real her. She only wanted someone who would look past the priestess and see the fun loving girl she really was. However, as the village's priestess, she was not allowed to show any signs of weakness, for fear that demons or evil men took advantage of her.

The roar of an injured fox was heard through the forest, removing the young priestess from her thoughts. She saw that she had made it half way up Mount Hakurei, right near the first of many caves and smiled a little. Taking out a few sacred sutras, the priestess placed them near the entrance and continued her way up the trail.

Unknown to her, a pair of eyes appeared from the cave and let out a faint chuckle.

"One day, I will leave this mountain and come after you young priestess; one day, but not now." A feminine voice said before retreating to the safety of the inner mountain.

[*.*.*.*]

Back in Konoha, Inuyasha struggled to remove the necklace given to him by Naruto, saying that it was a present from Hinata. He didn't exactly want to wear it but Naruto had forced it on him. He took note that with every attempt, the beads would light up and prevent him from removing the sacred rosary.

He groaned as he fell to the side from pulling on the rosary. He stood up and gave up, seeing as the rosary refused to leave his neck. He sat down on the couch behind him and looked for the remote to the tv. His anger quickly returned from not knowing where the remote was. He started to throw the cushions of the couch in random directions and let out a yell of frustration when he still hadn't found the control.

His silver dog ears twitched when he heard the front door's knob turn. He smirked as he hid behind the door and waited for his brother to enter. He was about to pounce his brother until he realized that the scent didn't belong to his brother. Looking from behind the door, Inuyasha saw that it was that odd girl they first met.

"Hey," Inuyasha smirked when the girl jumped at the sound of his voice. She looked up at him with her pupiless lavender eyes. "My otouto's not here right now. Actually, can you do me a favor and go look for the little pain, he was supposed to be here a couple of hours ago." Inuyasha said as he kept looking for the remote.

"A-Actually, I was l-looking for you." Hinata said as she closed the door. Inuyasha stopped searching for the remote and looked at her strangely.

"Were you now?" Inuyasha asked and Hinata nodded.

"I-It's about N-Naruto-kun… and y-you." Inuyasha raised an eyebrow and put all the couch's cushions back into place. Hinata then sat down on the other side of the couch while Inuyasha sat in the lotus position. Hinata couldn't help but occasionally gaze at Inuyasha's twitching ears. Hinata took in a deep breath and accumulated the words in her mind.

"W-Why do you and N-Naruto-kun have a-animalistic traits?"

**

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**

**Hinata wants answers, she wants the truth but will Inuyasha be the one to give it to her? Naruto saved Sasuke's life, so will Sasuke's view of Naruto change? What awaits the young priestess in the near future?**

**Next Chapter: The truth among lies...**

**Preview:  
_[I know someone else has done this before and I really hope that person doesn't get mad at me for using their idea]_**

**_"Hold on, hold on, first, where the hell did you get the rosaries from and why give it to us?!"_**

**_"Hm, dobe."_**

**_"You better shape up Naruto because in the shinobi world, being unprepared could mean losing a life." _**

**_"Today, we will spar; everyone partner up!"_**

**_"I won't lose to you today."_**

**_"Old man, we need to talk!"_**

**Good luck with whatever and if you got a problem with me or one of my stories, please feel free to: Deal with it, Get over it or Choke on it!**


	7. The truth among lies

**New update because I was inspired to write it...**

**After this, however, I'm going into a time skip to a day or two before they graduate... I really don't have much more events for them to do during the academy so yeah, time skip...**

**Uhm, well enjoy...**

**_The fear of death follows from the fear of life.  
A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time._**

**_~ Mark Twain ~_**

**Chapter 7: The truth among lies...**

**I don't own Naruto or Inuyasha!**

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* * *

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"_A-Actually, I was l-looking for you." Hinata said as she closed the door. Inuyasha stopped searching for the remote and looked at her strangely._

"_Were you now?" Inuyasha asked and Hinata nodded._

"_I-It's about N-Naruto-kun… and y-you." Inuyasha raised an eyebrow and put all the couch's cushions back into place. Hinata then sat down on the other side of the couch while Inuyasha sat in the lotus position. Hinata couldn't help but occasionally gaze at Inuyasha's twitching ears. Hinata took in a deep breath and accumulated the words in her mind._

"_W-Why do you and N-Naruto-kun have a-animalistic traits?"_

* * *

"W-Why do you and N-Naruto-kun have a-animalistic traits?"

Inuyasha blinked repeatedly and scratched his back as Hinata just stared at him with a confused look. He wasn't sure if he should answer the question. He wasn't sure if the girl would freak out as soon as he told her and he would've ruined his little brother's chance with her.

Inuyasha couldn't help but let out a scoff; that hard headed little pain would never forgive him if he made his first friendship end. Sooner or later he'd realize his feelings for the midnight blue haired girl but that would actually be later than sooner. Shaking his head, Inuyasha grabbed his rosary and tried to pull on it.

"Hold on, hold on, first, where the hell did you get the rosaries from and why give it to us?!" Inuyasha said as he tried to remove the rosaries again. Hinata looked at it and then noticed that it shined, much like Naruto's did whenever Iruka tried to remove it. Hinata watched as Inuyasha continued to pull on it before he shifted his weight over the edge of the couch and fall off it. Hinata giggled but it ended when Inuyasha glared at her.

"W-Well, I was l-looking for a present last w-week and I ran into a-a man." Hinata said as Inuyasha's gaze was making her uncomfortable. "H-He told me i-if I needed help w-with anything and I said y-yes. I-I told him what I w-was doing and he t-took out two n-necklaces, which I g-guess would be what y-you called rosaries." Hinata told Inuyasha who sighed and closed his eyes.

"What did the man look like?" Inuyasha asked. Maybe if he went looking for the man, he'd be able to find a way to remove the rosaries.

"H-He had long l-light blue hair that went past h-his lower back. He had clothes and a-armor that had a m-mainland influence with a long white sash and pointed boots. T-The oddest thing a-about the man w-was that h-he had Prussian blue crescent on his forehead and also has two red markings on each cheek." Every word that passed Hinata's lips made Inuyasha's eye widen to the point that Hinata thought they were going to pop out.

"A-Are you o-ok?" Hinata asked and snapped Inuyasha out of his daze.

"Where Hinata? Where did you meet this man?" Inuyasha asked fiercely, scaring Hinata. She was too afraid to speak as Inuyasha was getting closer to her. "This is important Hinata! If you don't tell me now then Naruto might be in danger." Hinata's eyes widened and looked in Inuyasha's amber eyes.

"J-Just outside K-Konoha. I h-had to gather s-some herbs a-after I c-couldn't find Naruto's g-gift." She said and Inuyasha sighed. He back off and leaned back on the couch in exasperation.

"So he's not here yet, good… for now." Inuyasha said lowly.

"Ano…" Hinata said and Inuyasha looked at her.

"What? Spit it out already!" He said a little peeved at Hinata's shyness. Hinata opened her mouth and…

"Shut up already!" Hinata gasped and was blinking furiously; that didn't come from her. Turning around, she saw Naruto with his clothes somewhat wet but close to completely dry. She blushed when she could see his well toned torso as his orange shirt hung close to his skin. Naruto removed his navy blue jacket and placed it on a chair to dry. "You can't stay quiet for one day can you aniki? And why are you yelling at Hinata-chan for?" He asked and Inuyasha grunted with a smile.

"What? Are you going to defend your girlfriend now?" Hinata blushed and Naruto glared at him.

"S-Shut up!" Naruto then pounced at his brother who easily jumped over him, making him fall into the couch. Inuyasha chuckled as Naruto growled.

"Don't you remember I'm a jonin now?" Inuyasha said as he continued to taunt Naruto while dodging his tackles.

"A-Ano, e-excuse me…" Naruto and Inuyasha were too busy to hear Hinata's pleading. "C-Can we all si…" Hinata fell back after trying to stand when Inuyasha lightly shoved her so she wouldn't stand. She just sat there and became quiet. She hated that she couldn't yell, she actually wanted to but she didn't want to seem rude.

"Naruto-kun, please sit do-" She gasped when Naruto stopped in midair and his face slammed on the wooden floor. Inuyasha laughed as Hinata ran to Naruto's side.

"Itai, what did I trip on?" Naruto asked no one in particular as Hinata helped him up. Inuyasha's chuckle died down as he sat on the couch.

"You didn't trip on anything otouto, it was Hinata who made you fall." Inuyasha answered and Hinata gasped.

"M-Me?" Inuyasha nodded and Naruto and Hinata looked at each other, but not before Hinata blushed at seeing how close they were.

"That rosary you gave us, it's charmed. Well, I guess that'd be the word. Anyways, little miss sunshine here was given the rosaries and then gave it to us so she could have control over us." Inuyasha accused and Hinata shook her head as Naruto looked at her.

"H-Hinata-chan…?"

"N-No Naruto-kun, p-please believe me, I-I didn't know t-that they w-were charmed." Hinata said and Naruto looked into her eyes.

"I… I don't think she's lying." Naruto said, still a little unsure. He heard his brother scoff and then stand.

"Well duh she didn't mean to. Damn otouto, you're gullible." Naruto growled and tried to claw at his brother but he was too quick. "It's my damned brother's fault." Inuyasha said and Naruto's eyes widened.

"Y-You m-mean… h-he's here?" Hinata looked worriedly at Naruto; it must really be bad to make him stutter that much. Inuyasha nodded and Naruto closed his eyes. "This is bad."

"Ano… who a-are you talking a-about?" Inuyasha looked at Hinata with such seriousness that Hinata's breath was hitched in her throat.

"My older half-brother. He hates me only because… because he and I have different mothers." Inuyasha said and Hinata looked at Naruto who nodded. "He's really powerful and if he's here than that means he wants Naruto."

"B-But why?"

"We don't know. When I was seven, he was almost successful but somehow, I was able to escape his grasp before it was too late." Naruto said with a look of nostalgia in his eyes. "What are we going to do aniki?" Naruto asked and Inuyasha looked at him intently.

"Nothing we can do now, if we run, he'll still find us. Our best chance is to stay here, where we have reinforcements." Inuyasha said and Naruto nodded.

"Hinata-chan, do you mind if you go home now; me and aniki need to talk." Hinata nodded and she said goodbye. After she left, Naruto sighed and went to the kitchen to get something to eat. "This is bad aniki, really bad."

"Yeah but I don't think Sesshōmaru will act now considering that he found us here a couple days ago and still hadn't made his move." Inuyasha and Naruto came back in the room with an apple; the only thing left to eat that was edible.

"That's good to hear." Naruto said as he chewed the apple in his mouth. They both stayed quiet for a while before Inuyasha grew tired of the silence.

"So what'd you do today?" Naruto took in a deep breath as he began to recall his day while his brother restarted his search for the remote.

[*.*.*.*]

Naruto had his eye closed as he made his way towards class. Yesterday was a definitely not a normal day, considering everything that went on. After talking to his aniki, they had another fight about attacking and saving the Uchiha.

Naruto shook his head as he looked up with his eyes opened; he'd never fully understand his aniki. Walking up the steps to the academy, Naruto rubbed his left eye, trying to remove the sleep out of them. As he walked down the hall, Naruto could've sworn he heard someone crying. Running to a door with the words 'supply closet', Naruto opened it and was surprised to see Hinata with red puffy tears.

"Hinata-chan? What's wrong?" Naruto asked and Hinata didn't answer, she acted as if she was alone. Looking around, Naruto made sure no one was looking for her closed the door and turned on the light. He sat down in front of Hinata and waited for her to calm down. Unfortunately for him, he didn't have the patience to wait for her to calm down.

Naruto sighed as his heart started to beat rapidly. Dropping his genjutsu, Naruto's golden tail appeared and he waved it in front of Hinata. Hinata felt the softness of the tail against her skin and instinctively wrapped her arms around them. Naruto waited now, his ears twitching every once and a while whenever he heard footsteps passing by. After what he thought was forever, Hinata looked up at Naruto while sniffing.

"N-Naruto-kun? Am I a bad person?" She asked. Naruto's eyes widened not only at her question, but the lack of stutter in her tone.

"No, you're a great person Hinata-chan!" Naruto said confidently. "Who told you that you were a bad person?" Naruto asked.

"My cousin." Hinata answered as her hold on Naruto's tail tensed up.

"Well he's jerk that needs to remove that stick out of his…"

"Naruto-kun, please d-don't talk about m-my cousin like that." Hinata said, shocking Naruto again. "H-He might not be n-nice… but I-I know there is a g-good side to him s-somewhere." Hinata said and Naruto watched her before he nodded.

"Ok, I'm sorry." He said and Hinata blushed, realizing how intimate he was being with his tail. She couldn't help it though; it was so fluffy and huggable.

"I-It's ok." She said as the tip of Naruto's tail started to tickle her under her chin. Hinata started to giggle and Naruto laughed as he saw Hinata giggle and try to put some distance between his tail and her. After five minutes of his tickle attack, Naruto and Hinata calmed down and just sat there. Naruto was looking at the ceiling with a spaced look and Hinata was looking at his ears and tails. This could finally be her chance to find out why he has a fox tail and ears.

They then heard the bell ring and Naruto made a hand sign and his ears and tails disappeared. He stood up and opened the door. "Come on Hinata-chan, we don't want to be late. Trust me; Iruka-sensei does not like anyone being late." Hinata nodded and followed after Naruto, cursing the bell and its timing.

Stepping into the classroom, Naruto saw Shikamaru and Choji sitting in the back with them doing whatever it was they did every morning. Naruto, with Hinata right behind him, walked up the steps to their steps and Naruto turned his head to make eye contact with the last Uchiha. After what felt like hours, Sasuke grunted.

"Hm, dobe."

"Teme." Naruto said as he passed by. When he reached his seat, he sat down and immediately went to sleep. Hinata watched in amazement at how quickly Naruto was able to sleep. It's like that's all he does anymore; sleep and eat. The first week into the academy, he would participate and stay awake; now, it was like he didn't think the academy was worth coming too.

Hinata sighed as she took her seat next to Naruto. It's not like she could judge, it wasn't as if she paid attention to what Iruka had to say either. The door to the front door opened and Iruka walked in with his usual smile on his face. Hinata kicked Naruto's leg as hard as she could, she didn't want a repeat of the day before. This time, thankfully, Naruto woke up and looked up to see Iruka. Naruto groaned as he put his right arm on the desk in front of his and then his chin on his palm.

"Today class, we'll be learning about the five elemental countries. We'll start with the Land of Fire, our country. Its government leader is the Fire Daimyo. The Land of Fire was the first country to adopt a ninja village…" Naruto tuned out Iruka as he stared into the window to his left. Outside he saw what appeared to be a bee. However, this bee was different, more… demonic. It flew away and it left Naruto to think over what he just saw.

"Naruto!" Naruto flinched and looked to where his name was called and saw Mizuki glaring at him.

"Oh hey, Mizuki-sensei, when'd you get here?" Naruto asked in earnest surprise. Mizuki and Iruka's veins started to pop out of their heads.

"I've been here for more than five minutes!" Mizuki yelled but Naruto kept a bored look on his face.

"Fascinating." Nartuo said sarcastically.

"Naruto, why are you always sleeping in my class?" Iruka asked and Naruto yawned, much to Iruka's annoyance.

"Because it's boring. All you ever do is talk, talk, talk about this and that. Things that won't be as useful as hands-on practice, something this academy lacks." Naruto answered. Iruka was about to say something but Mizuki beat him to it.

"You better shape up Naruto because in the shinobi world, being unprepared could mean losing a life." Mizuki said but Naruto shrugged it off.

"Whatever." Iruka sighed, as much as he liked Naruto, he was a real pain.

"Ok everyone, since Naruto thinks we should have more of a 'hands-on' practice. Today, we will spar; everyone partner up!" Naruto's eyes widened and he stood up and looked for someone to spar. The first person he set his eyes on was Sasuke. Sasuke seemed to have the same idea and he smirked at Naruto; he was going to have his rematch.

Hinata looked up at Naruto who was busy looking at Sasuke. Hinata sighed as she didn't bother to look for someone to spar with. She was the weakest in the class so why would anyone look for her to spar with.

"Iruka-sensei, is it only the same gender or can it be boys against girls?" Takeo asked in a fake innocent voice. Iruka looked to Mizuki and nodded.

"It can be different genders." Mizuki said and Takeo smirked as he set his sights on Hinata. Hinata started to back away in fear as Takeo made his way towards her. However, before he could stand in front of her, Naruto moved in between them and grabbed him by his collar.

"You're the one I want to fight." Naruto growled as Takeo grunted from Naruto's hold. Naruto pushed him off and pointed his index finger at him. "You and I are going to spar, unless of course, you're afraid." Naruto taunted and Takeo sneered.

"Ha, are you afraid of the fox boy Takeo?" Kiba said, calling him fox boy because of his scent. Everyone classified Kiba calling Naruto fox boy as nothing, seeing as Kiba was usually spitting out nonsense.

"No I'm not afraid of Naruto, if anything, he should be afraid of me." Takeo said and Naruto sneered as he pushed Takeo back. Sasuke, who was watching the scene smirked.

"Then fight me!" Naruto said.

"Settle down class, if you don't then we'll continue with the lecture." Iruka said and everyone was quiet. "Ok, let's line up and head for the training grounds." As a few people started to line up at the front door, only a few remained; Takeo and his two followers and Naruto, Hinata and surprisingly Sasuke.

"Ha, you're going to get your butt beat Naruto!" One of the followers, the one with the dark green hair.

"Hn, pathetic." Sasuke said to the green haired lackey as he walked down the steps and followed after everyone else. Takeo glared at Sasuke and they followed after him, with Hinata and Naruto being the last to leave the classroom.

Outside, everyone sat in the lotus position as Iruka went over the rules of the sparring matches.

"First thing is that I want to say is to give it your all; don't hold back just because you're fighting your comrades. However, I do also want you to not kill each other. Another thing, Mizuki and I will be watching and if we think that the fight would be pointless, then we will stop it. Is everyone clear?" Everyone nodded and Iruka smiled.

"So, who wants to go first?" Mizuki asked and everyone turned to look at either Takeo or Naruto. "I guess those two. Come up Naruto, Takeo." Naruto smirkedas he stood up and walked to the empty space in front of the class for the fight. Takeo walked in front of Naruto and they waited for Iruka to start the fight.

"You can start." Iruka didn't even finish saying that before Takeo rushed at Naruto. Naruto felt like laughing but instead, he kept his composure and settled with a smirk.

"I won't lose to you today." Takeo said as he threw his fist forward, but Naruto ducked under it and jumped back. Takeo ran at him again and tried to punch him again but Naruto continued to dodge his moves. Takeo cursed under his breath as Naruto continue to taunt him by dodging his attacks as if they were nothing.

Naruto yawned at few times during the assault but still was able to avoid all Takeo's kicks and punches. He then smirked as he saw Takeo's panting become more labored and labored with each passing second. Finally deciding to end it, Naruto parried Takeo's left jab and punched him three times in the face. One was a left hook, then a right, then another left again before Naruto spun on his heels and lifted his right leg out and it connected with Takeo's chin.

Everyone watching gasp in surprise at Naruto's grace, power and speed; something they didn't expect from him. Takeo was still on the floor with his jaw slightly slacked. Naruto laughed as he walked over to the rest of the class. They watched him as he sat next to Hinata and Shikamaru and soon his laughter died down.

"Uh… does anyone else want to go?" He asked as Mizuki grabbed the unconscious Takeo and dtragged him to the nurse's office. Sasuke raised his hand and soon wished he hadn't as his fangirls started to cheer for him. "Ok Sasuke, who is your sparring partner?"

"Naruto." Everyone's attention was on Naruto who was surprised at his name being called out though considering who it was, he shouldn't be surprised. Naruto though didn't stay surprised for long; he jumped up and went to the same place he went before as Sasuke walked across from him. They said nothing, they did nothing and even after Iruka started their match, they still remained unresponsive.

"So, still mad about yesterday?" Naruto asked after breaking the silence. Sasuke only looked at him, not replying. "Fine, today we'll see how it would've ended yesterday." Naruto said, and this time, he started. Naruto ran at Sasuke before dropping to all fours, surprising Sasuke and jumping to the side. He ran at him and repeated this process while running all over him in a fast pace. Sasuke's eyes were trying their hardest to keep up with the blond hanyō but it was getting a little harder.

Finally, Naruto stopped in front of Sasuke and sent an uppercut to his chin. Sasuke saw this coming and flipped back. Sasuke landed on his hands and started to spin as Naruto ran at him. Naruto ducked under his kicks and let out a gasp of surprise when Sasuke rolled in front of him and kick him in the sternum with the soles of his feet. Sasuke's fangirls cheered him on as Naruto landed on his back. He then rolled back, onto his hands, and kicked his feet in the air and landed neatly on them.

Sasuke ran at Naruto and jumped in the air only to extend his right leg out. Naruto grabbed Sasuke's leg and started to spin him before letting him go. Sasuke righted himself while in midair and landed on his feet with a grunted. Naruto, taking advantage of his momentum, ran at Sasuke and jumped over his head just before Sasuke threw a right hook. Spinning while airborne, Naruto kicked Sasuke behind the head. Sasuke staggered forward and Naruto kicked Sasuke behind his left knee.

Sasuke fell to his knees and Naruto jumped over Sasuke's head in a somersault and grabbed his neck. Naruto smirked as he drove Sasuke's head into the ground. Sasuke jumped back from the impact and held his face. Naruto stood and walked over him and smiled victoriously. Before Iruka could call the match, Sasuke kicked Naruto behind his knees and then stood on his hands to deliver a brutal kick to his chin.

Hinata gasped as Naruto flew back and hit his head against the ground. He had rolled over and his body was face down. He didn't stay down for long as he willed his body to stand. Sasuke smirked as he ignored the blood running down his nose and ran at Naruto. Naruto's hands glowed yellow with his demonic energy and he slammed it down, causing the dirt to fly up and surround him. Sasuke stopped immediately but limited visibility still wasn't enough to stop Naruto from popping out from the side.

Sasuke gasped, expecting Naruto to try the same thing he did yesterday. Naruto roared as he jumped and had his body parallel to the ground. Sasuke had no time to react as Naruto drove his shoulder to Sasuke's midsection and tackled him down. Sasuke felt all the air in his lungs leave him as Naruto jumped back. Naruto fell to one knee and panted; it was still hard for him to pull off the Iron Reaper Soul Stealer without putting too much demonic chakra into it.

Sasuke stood after catching his second wind and was about to attack Naruto again but Iruka appeared between them.

"Ok that's enough, I'm ending this match." He said and he saw that Sasuke was not happy with his choice but said nothing more, unlike Naruto.

"What?! That's it?! I wasn't done yet." Naruto said and Iruka sighed.

"It's over Naruto, there's nothing you can do about it now." Naruto growled and stood. After his panting went away, he fell on all fours and ran towards Sasuke. Iruka tried to stop him but was too surprised in Naruto's speed, it seemed to increase by twice the original speed he used in his match.

Sasuke turned and only had a second to see Naruto jump over him and keep running. Iruka snapped out of his stupor and ran after Naruto. Hinata also watched him go and went after him.

"Naruto come back, class isn't over!" Iruka yelled but Naruto kept running. Suddenly Mizuki appeared in front of Naruto but Naruto only smirked. He stopped in front of Mizuki and but then picked up a leaf and put it over his forehead. He smirked as he disappeared in cloud of smoke. When it disappeared, Mizuki saw seven Naruto's running in different directions. He made his own clones, real clones, and went after the Naruto's.

Iruka cursed under his breath as he went after Naruto, after telling his class to return to the academy. Hinata however snuck off, also looking for Naruto.

The real Naruto smirked as he was lucky enough to get the clone. He was jumping around the clone while they entered civilization and then landed on a roof nearby. Knowing that he hadn't lost the clone so fast, Naruto hid behind a chimney. The clone jumped up and started looking for Naruto. Naruto smirked as he jumped from his hiding place and threw his punch at Mizuki's head.

However, he wasn't expecting Mizuki to turn and catch his fist.

"Ha! Gotcha!" Mizuki's clone taunted as Naruto sneered. "Now we're going back to the class." He said and Naruto took out a kunai that his brother gave him and struck Mizuki who let out a gasp of pain before dispersing. Naruto fell to his back and quickly scurried up and ran to his destination before his senseis found him.

A minute after Naruto left that particular roof top, Mizuki and Iruka appeared, looking for the hanyō who skipped class. They growled in frustration and went out to look for him; he couldn't have gone.

[*.*.*.*]

Hiruzen Sarutobi sat in his office while three stacks of paper work lay in front of him. He was currently smoking his pipe and was relaxing; he was old and deserved a break from such trivial tasks as paper work. He knew that was a lie but that was the only way he could get himself to take a break. However, it would not last…

_**Knock**__**,**__** knock, knock!**_

Hiruzen sighed as he saw the door open after the knocks.

"Old man, we need to talk!" Hiruzen groaned as he rubbed his temples.

"Not now Naruto, I'm trying to relax." Hiruzen complained, taking another puff.

"The hell? No, it's Inuyasha old man." Hiruzen looked up and saw Inuyasha with his red outfit except he had his black leaf headband on his forehead while a black bandana, similar to Ibiki's, kept his ears down low.

"Oh, it's you, so how did the mission go?" Hiruzen asked as he added more tobacco to his pipe. Inuyasha sat down and sighed.

"Pretty good I guess. I mean, yeah I got my hands a little dirty but the guy didn't know what hit him." Inuyasha said and Hiruzen's eyes narrowed a little.

"Aren't you at the least affected of having to take a man's life?" He asked and Inuyasha shrugged his shoulders.

"I was shunned by mankind because of what I am; I was rejected from demons because what I am. I'm not saying I'm going to attack random people but when it comes to a job, I'll do what I have to." Inuyasha looked at the man seriously and focused his amber eyes on beige ones. "I have lived far longer than you have and have experienced much. Taking the life of one man does not faze me at all." Inuyasha said and Hiruzen grunted.

"I see; did your team give you a hard time?" This question lit up Inuyasha's face.

"Yeah but after a few talks," Inuyasha cracked his knuckles and then chuckled. "I got them to see it my way."

"Violence is never the answer." Hiruzen stated.

"But it does give results." Inuyasha retorted.

"So what is it you wanted to talk about?" Hiruzen said and Inuyasha's face became serious.

"When I left the village, I sensed a presence creeping from the shadows, waiting for something or someone to show up." Hiruzen showed interest in what Inuyasha said but didn't offer his own opinion so Inuyasha kept going. "It's a powerful being and I think I know who it is. I think it's my older half brother Sesshōmaru." Hiruzen showed no outward expression but he was inwardly wondering why he would be bringing this up.

"Ok, so…"

"So, he is a very dangerous daiyōkai; he is unrivaled in terms raw power and he is after Naruto." Hiruzen's eye widened. "I'm telling you this because even if I am strong, I am still no match for my brother; not alone." Inuyasha said. "So when the time comes, I am hoping I can trust in this village to back me up."

"Rest assured Inuyasha, if your brother comes for Naruto, we will defend him and fend off your brother Sesshōmaru." Hiruzen said and Inuyasha bowed, appreciating Hiruzen's help.

"Old man, we need to ta- oh, aniki, what are you doing here?" Naruto asked and Inuyasha smirked as he ran at Naruto. "Ah!" Naruto let out a gas of surprise and Inuyasha grabbed him in a headlock.

"What am I doing here? What are you doing here? You're supposed to be in the academy!" Inuyasha said as he punched the top of Naruto's head multiple times. With each punch, Naruto let out a whimper, almost like a fox.

"Inuyasha, that's enough. Now Naruto, what is it you need to speak to me about." The two brothers separated and were seated apart from each other.

"The academy sucks!" Naruto said, earning a sweat drop from Inuyasha and the old man. "In Kiri, we actually had a lot of training and spars and actually applied the stuff we learned in the lectures. Here, all we're doing is sitting down, taking test and have kunai/shuriken practice and spars every once a month. You know how boring that is?!" Naruto said and Inuyasha sighed.

"Naruto, I understand that you may not think our method works but it has produced many competent shinobi that live in our village." Hiruzen said.

"Are you kidding me, I was easily able to beat Takeo in a spar today and I didn't break a sweat." Naruto said.

"Considering what you are squirt, that's not hard to believe." Inuyasha said. Naruto grunted and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Just because I'm a fox hanyō doesn't mean I'm not right. I'm telling you gramps, if you want to make sure this year's genins are more prepared than you have to make sure they go through some practice field or something. I know that since I would've died a couple of times if it weren't for the Kiri's obstacle course. You should know as I do that in the shinobi world, practical beats theoretical every time." Naruto said with conviction.

"He's got a point old man." Inuyasha said and stood down when Hiruzen glared at him. He then sighed and rubbed his temples.

"I see what you mean, I will discuss it with Iruka and we'll see what we can do about it." Hiruzen said and Naruto smiled.

"That's all I'm asking." Naruto said and stood. "Now if you'll excuse me…" Naruto fell to all fours and jumped out the window on the far left and a second later, Mizuki showed up in the hokage's office office.

"Hokage-sama, have you seen Naruto?" Mizuki asked in a breathless tone. Inuyasha sneered at Mizuki, not liking the light blue haired chunin.

"He was here a second ago but…"

"Naruto!" Iruka's voice could be heard from outside the tower.

"Ah, Iruka-sensei, look out!" There was silence for a second.

"Naruto! There was nothing there!" Naruto's chuckle could be heard as it started to fade away.

"Yes there was, it's called a distraction!" Mizuki groaned as he went after Naruto who had evaded Iruka. When he left, Inuyasha stood up and walked over to the window opposite to the one Naruto jumped out of. Reaching down and grabbing something, Sarutobi could only sigh as an 'eep' was heard.

"Ok Hinata, you really have to stop sticking your nose in other people's business." Inuyasha said as she blushed. He then carried her to the chair and sat her down.

"Hinata, what you heard earlier is to be a SS rank secret that is not to be spoken outside these walls, am I understood?" Hiruzen said and Hinata nodded and made to stand but was pushed down by Inuyasha.

"Ok, so you're going to keep Naruto's secret to yourself but now the question is… are you still going to be his friend now that you know what he is?" Inuyasha asked and Hinata hesitated. A hanyō, that was really surprising to hear, something Hinata wasn't exactly expecting. Hinata looked at Inuyasha and nodded her head.

"Y-Yes, I will." Inuyasha sighed as he let her go.

"Just don't let him know you know. He'll tell you, sooner or later."

"S-So does thatm-mean..." Inuyasha knew where Hinata was going with this.

"Yeah, I'm a hanyō, now go before Iruka nad Mizuki go after you." Hinata nodded and left. Her thoughts returned to Naruto, still getting used to the idea that he was a hanyō. Inuyasha watched her go and then sat down. "With that out of the way, I want to know something else."

"Hmm?" Hiruzen said as he lit up a new pipe.

"We got a little less than a year till Naruto graduates. So, who's going to be his sensei?" Inuyasha asked, causing Hiruzen to smile.

"We won't be sure until the time comes. Why, do you have someone in mind?" He asked but Inuyasha shook his head.

"No, I was wondering. Well, if you don't need me for anything, I think I'm going to go now." Inyasha left and Hiruzen leaned back into his chair. He looked at the clock and saw that his break was already over. Groaning, he reached for his pen and the first paper; this was going to take a while.

**

* * *

**

**So now Hinata knows of Naruto's secret, will her views of him change? When exactly will Sesshōmaru strike and what was with the demonic looking bee outside the academy? And most importantly...**

**WILL INUYASHA EVER FIND THE REMOTE?!**

**Ok, there's something I want to address... Some people are not happy with Naruto receiving the rosary... Now, I'm not saying anything bad because I get it, I also could see how the rosary could separate or make Naruto's relationship with Hinata much harder to complete, which is something I had in mind when I gave it to him...**

**There is a reason I gave him a rosary, not only for comical release like in the series... Besides, if I want to have Naruto's rosary removed, Hinata wouldn't be able to do it because she has no spiritual powers..................................... yet...**

**Until I introduce Kagome into the story which, with the timeskip, should be about two or three chapters, Naruto and Inuyasha will have to learn how to deal with the rosaries...**

**So actually, you know what, I'm going to put up a new poll... The question: Should Naruto/Inuyasha have their rosaries removed... Options will be yes, no, only Naruto or only Inuyasha... Have a nice day!**

**Next chapter: The time of the new moon and graduation...**

**Good luck with whatever and if you got a problem with me or one of my stories, please feel free to: Deal with it, Get over it or Choke on it!**


	8. The time of the new moon and graduation

**OK... how to start this.... HAPPY NEW YEARS!!!!**

**Oye oye, that means that this year... well, is a new year "-_-.... sorry, that's all I got...**

**Anyways, ignoring that side of me that tends to annoy anyone within its range of sight, I'd like to say that this is a very popular story compared to my others... Almost ten reviews per chapter... I gotta say... *sniff*... I'm tearing up... I'm so glad you like this story!!!**

**So yeah, new chapter, xtra long for those who enjoy there chapters xtra long...**

**_"The difference between school and life? In school, you're taught a lesson and then given a test. In life, you're given a test that teaches you a lesson."_**

**_* _****_Tom Bodett *_**

**Chapter 8: The time of the new moon and graduation...**

**I don't own Naruto or Inuyasha!**

* * *

Naruto sighed as he sat down in a slump and had a gloomy cloud hanging over him. It was horrible, it was the worst possible thing to happen in his life as of yet and his savior was nowhere to be found. Slumping more into his chair, Naruto didn't catch the glaring eyes looking at him with disdain and unadulterated hatred from the shadows. They narrowed as Naruto yawned and waved off the gloomy cloud over his head.

Naruto growled as the dark, gloomy cloud over his head came back after he tried to disperse it with his hand. He tried again and growled when the cloud refused to leave. That wasn't working so as his claws lit up with his demonic chakra, it was time for plan b!

"Naruto-kun?" Naruto jumped out of his seat as he heard his name being called.

"It's only a cloud, it's not considered murder!" Naruto said quickly as he looked up and saw a confused Hinata staring back at him. "Oh Hinata-chan, it's only you. Sorry, thought you were someone who could get me in trouble." He said as he got off the floor and sat in his chair. Hinata fiddled with her fingers and then sat down in her seat next to Naruto. He looked at her direction and smirked.

"Ne, Hinata-chan, did you bring the ramen?" He asked joyously. Ever since she made the red bean soup he tried a couple of weeks ago, Naruto had introduced Hinata to ramen. While she didn't go on a ramen feast like her blond friend did, she did enjoy it. After that, she made home-made ramen just for Naruto to try and since then, she has been bringing him home-made ramen to him to eat for lunch. Today however…

"A-Ano… I-I'm sorry Naruto-kun but I-I didn't h-have much time yesterday t-to make it." She said and Naruto's face fell. It was bad news after bad news after bad news. "I-I'm sorry Naruto-kun." Naruto shook his head as his head hanged low.

"No, it's ok Hinata-chan." He said in a depressed tone.

"N-Naruto-kun, what's wrong?" She asked and Naruto sighed heavily.

"Well, it all started yesterday…"

_Naruto smirked as he dragged his aniki through town._

"_Oi! You sure you know where you're going?" Inuyasha asked as Naruto smirked._

"_Yup, we're only a couple of blocks away." Naruto said happily._

"_So what are we doing again?" Inuyasha asked and Naruto turned his head to smile at him._

"_I'm going to show you the best thing ever made… even better than fireworks." He said and Inuyasha chuckled._

"_That family of raccoons never knew what hit them." Naruto nodded too with a faint chuckle. After passing two blocks, Inuyasha sweat dropped as he stood in front of a food stand. It wasn't impressive in terms of structure and looks but the smell in the air was delicious. _

"_Come on aniki and taste the food of the gods." Naruto said as he stepped into the stand and sat down. It followed by the sounds of a young woman's voice and an old man's voice, both which greeted Naruto who greeted them back. "Yo aniki, you coming or not?!" Inuyasha sighed as he stepped into the stand._

Hinata raised an eyebrow at this while Naruto face palmed while his elbows were on the desk.

"Ano… what else happened?" Hinata asked but soon wished she hadn't.

_Naruto cried in a corner of the stand as his aniki shoveled down all the ramen being made and brought to them. Naruto had fought for it but alas, his desire and skill could not beat his aniki. He watched as all the ramen in the bowl entered Inuyasha's mouth and swallowed whole down his throat. It was a horrible sight; much worse than when the villagers beat him when he was three. _

_On his twentieth bowl, Inuyasha took a small break, leaving him wide open and causing Naruto to pounce him. Unfortunately for Naruto, Inuyasha was quicker and ducked, making him fly over head and landing on a stool, efficiently knocking him out. After he woke up a few minutes later, he noticed that he was tied to the stool besides his aniki and he could only try to break the rope…_

_As Inuyasha continued to shovel down the ramen… right… in… front... of… him…_

As Naruto cried into his hands, Hinata was deadpan and patting his back. Naruto then did something she wasn't expecting; he wrapped her in an intimate hug. His arms were around her waist and her body was stiff. He continued to cry over-exasperatedly on Hinata's shoulder. She was frozen stiff as Naruto's warmth transferred and spread to her entire body. Through her shook, shewas enjoying the warmth.

"Oi, Oi, what's this?" Naruto looked up and saw Shikamaru looking at him lazily.

"Oh Shikamaru it's terrible." Naruto said as he locked Shikamaru in an air tight bear hug.

"You idiot! Let me… go!" He said as Naruto faked sobbed. After snapping out of her perverse daydream, Hinata giggled as she watched Shikamaru try his hardest to escape from Naruto's iron grip. Suddenly, Naruto's grip on Shikamaru was released when he stumbled back and yelped in pain.

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata shouted in a panicked state. It was followed by loud laughter and Shikamaru and Hinata looked down the classroom to see Kiba laughing in the comfort of his chair.

"'Attaboy Akamaru!" he shouted and then Naruto let out another yelp of pain. Looking at her blond friend/crush, Hinata saw Akamaru biting down on Naruto's left forearm.

"Ah you foul beast! Let go of my arm! It's not a chew toy, back off! BACK I SAY!" Naruto said as he started to flail his arms in a rapid speed. Naruto then quickly took out two earplugs and placed them in each ear. Taking in a deep breath, Naruto clenched his teeth and curved his lips as he let out the deep breath. The results were instantaneous.

Akamaru flinched and tensed before letting Naruto go and running off to Kiba and hiding in his grey sweater.

"What the-?" Kiba asked no one in particular as Naruto stopped whistling. Shikamaru looked at Naruto incredulous, along with Hinata.

"What? You don't survive long if you don't know how to whistle." Naruto said deadpanned, earning sweat drops from Shikamaru and Hinata as they continued to look at him. "Is there something on my face?" He asked. Shikamaru shook his head and left muttering something about troublesome blonds and their stupidity. Naruto heard it but let it go; he had something planned for the lazy Nara anyways. Choji was already in the room so he only waited for his friend to sit beside him.

Hinata sat down in her seat as her thoughts consumed her entire attention. The day she followed Naruto to the Hokage Tower and heard his indirect confession to her about being a fox hanyō Hinata hadn't been able to look at Naruto the same. While she didn't hate him or was angry at him for being a fox hanyō, she was a little hurt that he hadn't told her about it. Sure they were only friends for a month but still, even with logic, she still felt hurt.

However, she didn't let that stop her from being around him, being his friend, eanr his trust and forming a sort of crush on him. Now, she couldn't look at him at all without blushing and letting her mind's fantasy wander a bit. The tail and the ears… something to hold on to… Hinata shook her head as she blushed the darkest shade of red she had ever blushed.

'_Bad thoughts… bad thoughts… bad thoughts…'_ She repeated in her mind as she willed such perverted thoughts away. _'We're not even old enough yet even if I wanted to do that!'_ She then 'eep'ed; the hidden message behind the thought getting through.

"Hinata-chan?" Hinata was snapped out of her thought as Naruto called her name. She looked at him and saw that he was worried. "Why are you spacing out like that? Are you thinking about something?" Something then clicked in his mind and he smirked teasingly. "Or is it some_one_?" He asked and she looked away, her blush seemingly permanent on her cheeks. Either he was a mind reader or she was thinking her thoughts aloud again. She hoped neither were the case.

"N-No…" She stammered but Naruto's smirk never left.

"I know you're lying Hinata-chan. So who is it?" He asked in honest curiosity. Hinata started to poke her index fingers together and muttered something under her breath.

"Did you say 'you'?" Naruto asked and Hinata shyly nodded. "Oh, you mean that guy named Yu Hikarusake who's a year behind us?" Naruto asked skeptically and Hinata looked at him in disbelief. She knew he was oblivious but to this extent?

"N-No Naruto-kun," Her courage diminished and she looked away from him. She wondered if she should reveal her feelings to him. Considering the upcoming event could separate them, it wouldn't hurt to try. "I-I mean y-"

"Good morning class!" Hinata sighed in both relief and disappointment; sometimes Iruka-sensei's timing was a blessing and a curse. "Since today is the last day of this year's class, we will be taking a final exam to see how many of you have what it takes to go on to be genin." Iruka said with cheerfulness and optimism. Most of the students murmured to themselves or to their neighbors and had smiles on their faces. Naruto, however, topped everyone's smiles.

"Before that, we will be reviewing the required skills needed to pass the exam. It's fairly simple; to pass, all you have to do is show me and Mizuki-sensei, who's in the other room where you will be tested, that you can do the substitution jutsu, clone jutsu, transformation jutsu and be able to go through the obstacle course in a set amount of time." Everyone, except Naruto, Sasuke and, the over confident, Kiba, paled and gulped.

After a month of annoyance courtesy of Naruto, Hiruzen was able to convince Iruka to 'better' the learning process the academy goes through so they were able to change the once-a-month spars and kunai/shuriken throwing practice to at least four times a week. Also, much to Naruto's joy, they installed an obstacle course behind the academy. It was really something to the academy students but Naruto thought that they weren't pushing it enough with the exploding tags attached to some of the surrounding terrain. Their explosions weren't big enough to satisfy his craving for destruction.

Spontaneous combustion aside, Naruto was happy that the academy had changed for the better, if only a little. It was still filled with boring lectures and such but he knew the old man had only so much influence. Though Naruto could already tell that half the class was better just from the extra spars and practice alone, never mind running through an obstacle course that could hurt you if you took a wrong step. Of course, that's what the teachers were there for; supervision.

Those who almost died the first time got better but eventually it got overwhelming so they ended up building another, safer obstacle course but this one was harder to get through and required almost instinctual reflexes or smarts. Naruto had both… well, battle field smarts. His grade for his test… they were, to say the least, pitiful.

"W-Which one Iruka-sensei?" A student asked that sat in front of Naruto and Hinata. Both looked at him oddly; was there really an option?

"I'm afraid that you will have to go through both." He said, knowing some students would not pass, much to his disappointment. However he knew, in the back of his mind, that this would ensure that only the truly gifted and prepared students will pass and go on to live a longer life span as genins. After making chunin, well, who knew for sure?

Naruto was shaking, his entire body refused to remain still at hearing that he'd have to go through both obstacles. Hinata, also shaken up, looked at Naruto and wasn't surprised to see a smile on his face. He wasn't shaking in fear or in worry but in anticipation. She looked down at her hands that were intertwined; she wasn't so sure that she'd pass. Sure she had been able to go through both courses with some trouble but at a set amount of time?

Hinata shook her head in disappointment knowing that out of the entire student able to go through both obstacles, she was the slowest of them. Naruto, while quick, never seemed too far behind her in terms of time completion. She knew he was holding back for some unknown reason but she never questioned him about it.

"So now, let's review, the substitution jutsu lets you…" Naruto groaned as he let his head rest on the desk. He knew this already; even second year students in Kiri knew this stuff and knew how to pull it off. Granted, it did leave them tired afterwards, that was not the point. Of course this is a review and that Iruka was only helping them out but still.

"_Naruto-kun…_" Hinata whispered as Naruto's fox ears perked up under the genjutsu. He looked at her and noticed that she was shaking a bit. "_I… I don't think I-I can do th-this._" Hinata whispered again as Naruto shook his head.

"_Come on Hinata-chan, we've been through this already, you can do whatever you want if you just think you can. Have a little confidence in yourself._" Naruto whispered back in a bored and tired tone. He then looked seriously at her for a moment. "_Listen, if you can't pass… then I won't pass either_" Naruto said and smiled afterwards. Hinata blushed at the smile but looked incredulous at him from his words.

"_N-No Naruto-kun… d-don't fail just b-because I couldn't p-pass._" Hinata said but Naruto shook his head again.

"_Don't worry about it; I'm sure I won't have to fail since I'm definitely sure you'll pass._" Naruto told her and she just couldn't stop looking at him. It amazed her to no end how incredibly nice he was to her. Though she did wonder why he'd act like his brother to certain people and sometimes, people he just met depending on the first impression he got.

The door suddenly opened to reveal Mizuki with a smile on his face. Immediately, Naruto scowled and glared at the seemingly happy and nice sensei. The man reeked of an odor far worse than anything Naruto has ever smelled before, even worse than the *exploding cows* and rabid bunnies hidden in a cave in Kumo. He smelled…

Of snakes and death…

The odor didn't originate from Mizuki per se; however it came from a second presence he apparently was with before coming to the class. He wasn't sure what it was but Naruto didn't like Mizuki; there was something about the man that yelled 'liar' and 'traitor'. Whatever it was, it was enough to unnerve Naruto whenever he was alone with him.

"Are we ready to begin Iruka-sensei?" Mizuki asked and Iruka nodded.

"We will now begin with the test and will be calling out names to take the exams. This test will only be substitution, transformation and clone jutsu. The obstacle course will be given when everyone is done with those three. First up, Shino Aburame." Shino stood and walked down the steps to exit the classroom with Iruka who was waiting for Shino.

"Ne, ne Hinata-chan!" Hinata looked at Naruto with a questionable gaze. Naruto smiled with his eyes closed as he extended his right hand out and his pinky up. "I wanna make a promise with you." He said.

"W-What kind of promise?" She asked nervously yet curiously. True to his half fox side, Naruto was pretty cunning and devious, so mcuh so that she once got conned into helping out in one of his pranks. Needless to say, Kiba's mom was not amused with the amount of cats and catnip in her compound.

"I promise of a lifetime. If you promise to always give it your all and never give up, then I promise that I will too, for any situation." He said and Hinata looked at him, then at his pinky, then at him again with a raised eyebrow. He noticed it and sweat dropped. "And I'll tone down the pranks. There are you happy now?" He said deadpanned.

"O-Ok." Hinata said as she connected her pinky with his and intertwined them. She blushed but giggled as he chuckled. After they separated, Naruto heard them call Sakura to take the test.

"Oi, Shikamaru!" Naruto yelled but the lazy student didn't flinch. Naruto gave him a minute before taking in a deep breath. "SHIKAMARU!" He yelled again as he got everyone's attention and the sleeping Nara's snot bubble to burst when he woke up.

"Eh?" He said groggily as his eye lids were half closed… or half open, depending on the preference…

"How do you think you're going to do?" Naruto asked in mild interest and Shikamaru groaned.

"I have to pass; if not, my mom won't stop nagging me until I graduate. Unfortunately, that means I have to… try. Wow that was a lot harder to say than I thought." Shikamaru said and Naruto laughed.

"It usually is for someone who never used the word before." Naruto mocked, earning a stifled giggle from Hinata and a grunt from Shikamaru. Choji, who was sitting beside Shikamaru, nodded his head as he stuffed his face with his apparently endless bag of chips.

"Hinata Hyuga!" Iruka's voice rang and Hinata flinched. She looked at Naruto who gave her a thumbs up. Shikamaru also mumbled a 'good luck' and so did Choji, or at least, she assumed he did after finishing his bag of chips. She walked down the steps and ignored the jeers coming from Takeo and his followers. She gulped in her nervousness and prepared herself for the exam; she wasn't going to go back on her promise.

**[*.*.We're skipping that part of the test mainly because I don't have the attention span to… Look a distraction!.*.*]**

Iruka smiled at the students who had managed to pass the first part of the exam. So far, only three students failed so they were immediately dismissed from taking the obstacle course part. Naruto, along with Sasuke and Kiba, were fidgeting with anticipation and just wanted to get first dibs on it. It was a very long obstacle course, safely the same length of the academy and then some, and that was only the first of the two. The second was even longer but was the safer of the too. However, it was far more difficult in terms of passing through.

"This time, we will be going by order of highest test result to the lowest from the first part of the exam. So… will Hinata Hyuga step up?" Everyone gasped as they set their sights on Hinata who was also in her own state of shock.

"M-Me?" She stuttered and Iruka nodded.

"Your transformation jutsu was flawless and is precisely the only reason you managed to get the top score. Sasuke had only one or two flaws but other than that, you two were pretty equal." Iruka said and Hinata blushed in embarrassment when Sasuke and his fangirls glared at her.

"Way to go Hinata-chan! Hear that chicken-butt, not so high and mighty now, huh?" Naruto praised Hinata and taunted Sasuke. Sasuke growled but didn't do much after that. Naruto inwardly sighed, knowing Sasuke wasn't going to do anything now however… his fangirls were another completely different matter.

Hinata, while worrying about the beating Naruto was receiving right now courtesy of Sasuke's fangirls, walked up to the entrance of the beast known as the obstacle course and shook in fear. She had been through the more dangerous field numerous times though there were still things inside that were unknown to her considering that its tactics were changed daily.

"AH THAT HURTS! WAIT, I DON'T THINK THAT'S SUPPOSED TO GO THERE! DAMN IT ALL! OW! THAT'S NOT SUPPOSED TO BEND THAT WAY!" Trying to calm her mind from the outside world, "WHY HASN'T ANYONE HELPED ME YET?!" Hinata dashed into the obstacle with Iruka beginning the stop watch in his hands. The maximum time they had was three minutes and seventeen seconds in the first one and five minutes and thirty five seconds in the second, much longer one.

Hinata ran past many jagged rocks positioned haphazardly around the room she was in. She had ducked, jumped over, went around and occasionally went under several jagged rocks as she only stepped on one or two explosive tags so far. Luckily, neither explosions were enough to knock her out, kill her or throw her off balance to an extreme degree. She was extremely glad to have a kekkei genkai that was able to spot chakra and have an almost 360° vision. She knew without it, she wouldn't not have survived as long as she did.

Just as she jumped over a rock, she saw the exit to the first obstacle. Smiling, Hinata hurried to the exit but didn't see the last explosive tag on the rock she had her arm on. It surprised her and burned her hand making her lose focus and trip over a rock that was curved to the left. She fell hard and rolled forward, just stopping by a few inches from the exit.

Ignoring the pain in her right knee, Hinata stood and rushed as fast as she could to the exit. As ran past the exit, she saw everyone watching a severely wounded Naruto who was still getting the snot beaten out of him. Their attention was then given to Hinata who became nervous at all the sudden attention.

Iurka had stopped the watch as soon as Hinata came into view and clapped.

"Good job Hinata; three seconds short of three minutes." He congratulated the shy girl and she nodded in acknowledgement.

"Yeah, Hinata-chan!" Naruto cheered groggily even though he had no idea what she did since Sasuke's fangirls killed a thousand of his brain cells. "Such pretty colors!"

"Shut up!" One fangirl yelled as she stuffed a sock in his mouth. He really did not want to know where they got the sock from or more importantly, who the sock belonged to.

"Ok Hinata, now it's time for the second obstacle." Iruka said and Hinata nodded, hiding her injured knee from Iruka. She walked over to the other obstacle course that was only ten feet away from the first one. She sighed as she took her time starting. Finally, she ran into the obstacle and started to run through the first part of the obstacle, running by and finding a way to escape the hall of mirrors that seemed to intersect each other. It was hard to see which way to go seeing as her eye sight was being tricked by the many, many reflections. She occasionally hit a mirror or four but she didn't let that stop her.

Several concussions later, Hinata managed to get past the mirrors and was now facing an empty hallway. Hinata eyed the place suspiciously before running off, ignoring the pain in her right leg. As she ran past, she noticed at a few tiles on the floors were a bit different than the others. As she accidently stepped on one of the 'different' tiles, blunt kunais and shurikens started to fly everywhere.

Hinata ducked, dodged and occasionally parried off the dull projectiles with her own kunai she owned. She also used the substitution jutsu to replace herself with a few logs that were coincidently sprawled out everywhere. Some kunai and shuriken managed to hit her legs and arms but other than that, she was fine. She jumped to the end and panted as the hail of kunai and shuriken stopped flying around. Looking up, she mentally groaned as she had to climb the inverted rope net. She started to climb it and was suddenly having a harder time doing so.

Activating her family's famous, or infamous depending on the point of view, dōjutsu, Hinata gasped to see that the ropes she was currently holding on to was absorbing her chakra. Not wanting to find out how long she could stay on the chakra absorbing rope before falling, Hinata climbed faster until she made it to the top. She ran at top speed before coming to a decisive halt in front of another hall of mirrors. She groaned loudly this time as she made sure to take her time with this; ramming your head into the mirrors was neither fun nor smart.

As she was half way there, she noticed that small taps could be heard from behind her. Looking back, she gasped when she saw dogs of various shapes and sizes were running after her, neither barking nor making noise besides the ones made by their feet. She rushed through the mirrors while paying no mind to the pain in her head and knee. She jumped out the exit and panted heavily as she lay out on the floor. She looked up and saw Iruka with a smile on his face.

"Five minutes and eleven seconds." He said and Hinata smiled as well; she passed!

Naruto remained unconscious on the floor near the smiling fangirls, his wounds healing at a quick pace. As Iruka and a limping heiress walked back to the rest of the group, Iruka sweat dropped at Naruto's still form.

"Naruto get up, that's quite enough of that." Iruka said. The fangirls scoffed, not believing that he'd get up anytime soon but were surprised when his eyes sprang open and did a kicking handspring to stand. Wobbly, they may add, but standing nevertheless.

"Damn it Iruka-sensei, you're no fun." Naruto said and before Iruka walked away, Naruto grabbed his forearm. "AND WHERE THE HELL WERE YOU WHEN I WAS BEING ATTACKED?" Naruto yelled as Iruka sighed.

"I knew you'd be ok." He answered as he removed naruto's grip before hee walked away, leaving behind a wide eyed Naruto.

"THAT'S NOT GOOD ENOUGH!" Naruto yelled after snapping out of his stupor. He glared at Iruka as he called Sasuke up to go through the obstacle and Hinata limped her way towards Naruto. Naruto saw her limping and then remembered that she had passed the graduation exam. "Hey Hinata-chan! Congratulation, you passed!" Naruto yelled and Hinata blushed when not only Naruto congratulated her but after everyone was looking at them.

"T-Thank you N-Naruto-kun." She said in her meek voice. And then it got quiet; Naruto started to move around, kicking the dirt around his feet and whistling a quiet tune. Hinata was rubbing her forehead once in a while, feeling the pain of banging her head on the mirrors, and occasionally rubbing her left knee to massage away the dull pain.

Every one of Sasuke's fan girls suddenly cheered, alerting Naruto and Hinata that Sasuke just finished the first part of the obstacle. Naruto watched as Sasuke walked over to the entrance of the next obstacle with a bored look. Naruto couldn't help but let out a feral growl; the teme just got on his nerves so easily these days.

"Don't worry Naruto-kun, I-I'm sure you'll g-get your c-chance." Hinata said after seeing Naruto's angered expression. His anger snapped and disappeared as he looked at her confusingly before nodding with a confident smirk. As soon as his name was called, he'd go and show his class who the real rookie of the year is. But for now, he'd have to wait.

His thoughts then drifted to the event that was going to happen later tonight. His demonic energy would leave him tonight, the night of the new moon, just like his aniki. He hoped that nothing bad happened or anything that would need him to need his demonic energy. With an exasperated sigh, he looked at the ground with interest. hinata watched her crush act quiet and still, much unlike how he usually was.

She wondered what was wrong with him.

**[*.*.*.*]**

"Why the hell am I last?!" Naruto shouted at his instructor as Iruka tried to stop the ringing in his ears.

"As I said earlier Naruto, we're going from highest to lowest scores from the first part of the graduation exams. You, unfortunately, did pretty badly. You're transformation jutsu was lacking in authenticness, worse than anyone else's. The only reason you didn't fail was because you were able to do the shadow clone jutsu. How exactly are you able to do that again?" Iruka asked suspiciously. Naruto laughed sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head.

"Being the younger brother of a jonin has its perks." Naruto informed Iruka vaguely, making said chunin instructor sweat drop.

"Anyways, just be thankful that you're going at all. Going to the academy for only one year and still taking the graduation is very uncommon and we shouldn't even let you take it. However, since the Hokage feels that you have what it takes to pass without worry, then we can only oblige."

"That's right; you're basically a puppet in the Hokage's hands huh?" Naruto taunted as he motioned his hands like someone wielding a puppet which in turn caused Iruka developed a tick mark on his forehead.

"Don't forget that if you pass and do become a genin, you too will be, as you said, a 'puppet'." Naruto stopped his act as a puppet master and scowled.

"It'll only be a matter of time before I become the puppet master." Naruto said under his breath as he walked up to the entrance of the first part of the obstacle. Iruka watched him go with slight interest…

'_So, he wants to become Hokage does he?'_ Iruka thought curiously. _'If he passes this exam, he'll only be one step closer.'_

Naruto looked at the entrance and couldn't help but smirk maniacally, this was nothing compared to Kiri's obstacle course and his aniki every time Naruto was able to anger him to a certain extent. Where his aniki got the skill to use a paint brush to cause so much pain from a distance without throwing it was beyond Naruto. Shaking his head from distracting thoughts, Naruto fell on all fours and tensed his muscles before ricocheting off, prompting Iruka to start the stop watch.

**[*.*.*.*]**

Inuyasha growled as he ran past a crowd of bandits, ripping open their chest with his well sharpen and enforced claws. Many were fatal but nothing too gory for his tastes. He jumped up from a group in front of him who were throwing spears and other weapons at him and he managed to spin in midair to avoid getting hit. As he landed, he connected his spinning heel kick with two bandits and then set a devastating uppercut to one bandit with a switchblade.

As many bandits continued to fall, their leader, Kuma, was packing up his most valuable items in a pack and was trying to sneak from the back of the group of bandits.

"Where the hell do you think you're running off to?" Kuma flinched as he turned back to see Inuyasha grabbing his last, conscious follower by the scruff of his neck and tossing him to the aside, knowing that while conscious, he would provide little to no assistance. Kuma dropped the things slowing him down and ran as fast as his feet could take him. Inuyasha grunted lazily as he walked in the direction Kuma went, taking his sweet time to reach the panicking bandit leader.

Kuma chuckled insanely as he saw no sign of Inuyasha following him. While his attention was turned to his back, he didn't see someone stand in front of him. He collided with the person but he was the only one who fell. Looking up, he shrieked in fear right before his life was taking by a quick swipe.

Inuyasha paused as the smell of blood reached his sense and… and a familiar scent. His eyes widening, he ran into an open clearing and started to look around.

"Hn, Sesshōmaru." Inuyasha mumbled as he saw Kuma's acid burned, dead body lying near the opposite end of the clearing by a tree. As Inuyasha looked closer, he saw a very thin crescent moon craved on the bark of the tree. Sesshōmaru was here, was being the keyword. Whatever the hell his brother was planning, it was something Inuyasha knew he had to put a stop to.

Grabbing Kuma's dead body and throwing it over his shoulder, Inuyasha went to a local bounty officer, no point in completing a mission and earning a little money on the side. The man he was carrying on his back was easily worth at least two hundred thousand ryo. Oh he and Naruto would be eating ramen all night tonight!

**[*.*.*.*]**

Naruto panted tiredly as he made it out the mirrors of horrors and doom for the second time today. He smiled as Iruka told him that he barely made four minutes; completely beating the Uchiha by a total of seven seconds. Naruto smiled victoriously as he walked over to the rest of the class, holding out the peace sign with his left hand ad sticking out his tongue.

"Ok, since we're done here, we'll go back inside and hand out headbands to those who passed. Everyone else… well, there's always next year." Those who didn't pass grumbled, wondering how they lost to Naruto of all people. Since no one really knew he beat Sasuke in the time obstacle, no one really paid attention to him. No one except Hinata that is.

"S-So, how'd you do Naruto-kun?" She asked, looking and feeling better than she did when she finished the exam. Naruto, still panting, kept that idiotic smile on his face.

"I beat… Sasuke's time." He said with a winded tone. Hinata smiled and blushed while intertwining her hands behind her back.

"Good job N-Naruto-kun, I'm sure you're a-aniki will be p-proud." Hinata said and Naruto nodded.

"At least... he better be." He added as he and Hinata followed after their class. He then stopped and looked in a random direction. Hinata noticed that he stopped and looked at him curiously.

"What's wrong Naruto-kun?" She asked in her shy tone. He kept looking in a random direction before shaking his head and smirking at her.

"I uhm… gotta go use the bathroom. I'll be back!" He said before sprinting to the direction he was looking at and disappearing in the trees that surrounded them. Hinata watched him go before she ran to catch up to the rest of the class.

Naruto looked around, looking for the source of the almost imperceptible light shining around him. His slit eyes, under the genjutsu, strained to find where the bothering light was coming from. Rustling behind him alerted him that someone was near and when he turned, he saw that Mizuki was smiling at him. Naruto stifled a growl in his throat as Mizuki took a few more steps towards him.

"I see you saw my signal Naruto. Most perceptive." Mizuki commented but the sincerity in his voice didn't fool Naruto.

"So what do you want Mizuki-sensei?" Naruto asked distrustfully.

"I see you passed, and you did better than the pride of the Uchiha Clan; very impressive if I do say so myself." Mizuki mentioned.

"Listen, if all you're going to do is kiss up to me than you don't need to… I already know how kick ass I am." Mizuki held back a snarl as Naruto started to walk away. "If there's nothing else…"

"So who do you think will be on your team, Naruto?" Mizuki asked out of the blue. Naruto stopped in his tracks and thought about Mizuki's question. "It could be anyone; from Hinata and Shikamaru, to Sakura and Sasuke." Naruto paled; he was sure that Hinata and Shikamaru would be his first top picks as teammates… but Sakura and Sasuke; the idea scared him to no end.

"Then again, there is the possibility of Hinata being in the same team as Takeo. Sure they hate each other now… but spending a lot of time with someone else can change a person... for better or for worse." That was it for Naruto; now he was fully interested.

"What are you getting at?" He asked cautiously, glaring at his sensei.

"Well, I do have a hand in who goes in what team and if you want to be in the same team as Hinata and Shikamaru, all you have to do is show me how determined you are."

"What do I have to do?" Mizuki smirked as he explained what he had to do, making Naruto smirk at the idea.

**[*.*.Later that night.*.*]**

Hinata walked with a thoughtful expression on her face; she hadn't seen Naruto after he left and Mizuki told Iruka that he was picked up early by his brother and that he would deliver his headband to him later.

Now however, Hinata walked the empty streets of Konoha with a frown ad her headband tied around her neck. Her father had told her he was proud but also that he expected her to do better than she had on the test. While it did unnerve her that her father was still able to find fault in her graduating, that was not what was bothering her. It was Naruto; or more specifically, his behavior.

Today, he was quieter than usual, which was suspicious in and of itself, considering that he could be as loud as Kiba sometimes. Still, he seemed to be thinking about something, almost as if something was supposed to happen today.

Shaking away such thoughts, Hinata noticed movement from the left side of her vision. Looking up, she saw a fast blue and orange blur with something white on its back run past her, not noticing her in her surprised state. After a few minutes, she decided to find out what the blur was; bearing in mind that it could be anything from a Konoha shinobi just training or an enemy shinobi. She had no idea why she was doing this but it was better than going home, that was for sure…

Naruto stopped from his mad sprint, hoping he had lost the ANBU chasing him. It seems that he wasn't as sneaky as he thought. Shaking off the adrenaline, he walked up to the cottage house just within the clearing he was told to go and sat down near it while he opened the scroll he had in his hands. He knew what scroll he had in his hands was; the Scroll of Seals. The scroll said to have many forbidden jutsus that could kill a normal genin if they even tried to do them. However… with a chuckle, Naruto knew he was far from a normal genin.

As he started to read the first jutsu there he groaned and kept reading down. His brother, while not able to use his chakra just yet, had taught him the shadow clone jutsu and Naruto was already a master of that jutsu. A couple of other jutsus caught his attention and he took out an empty scroll and a pencil. These would be useful for another time. Just as he finished writing the name, hand signs and description/warning of the first jutsu, he heard someone coming.

He wasn't expecting anyone so soon, however, the person he saw was one of the last people he expected to see in a place like this.

"Hinata-chan?" Hinata looked at Naruto incredulous as she slowly made her way towards him.

"N-Naruto-kun? What are you-" Her eyes widened as she saw what Naruto had in his possession. "W-What are you d-d-doing with the Scroll of S-Seals?" She asked in shock and fear.

"Shh! Hinata-chan calm down!" He said as he motioned her to sit beside him. After he did, sighed. "Ok, to answer you're two questions, even though the first one wasn't finished, I'm writing down some jutsus for a later time and… well, I think that's it, my answer covers both questions." He said with a childish tone. He saw Hinata about to speak but he didn't let her. "Ne Hinata-chan, check these jutsus out!"

Naruto pointed to three separate jutsus and Hinata read them in her mind.

"They sound like something you can do without over exhausting yourself, don't you think?" he asked and Hinata was still reading the description/warning of the three jutsu.

"I-I suppose." She answered and he gave her another empty scroll and a pencil.

"Then write it down and practice it with me." He said as he picked up his pencil and continued to write down several jutsus that caught his interest. Hinata was hesitant to write them down at first but decided she might as well. After writing five jutsus down, Naruto rolled up his scroll and stood up to stretch. Hinata just managed to write her three jutsus and after that she also stood up.

"Ok Hinata-chan, we only have… oh, about two hours before we have to stop and get ready." Naruto said as he stretched his legs, then his arms. Hinata watched him stretch with a blush before realizing something weird about him. He currently looked normal but she knew he was just hiding his fox hanyō features, which included his slit blue eyes, tail, claws, fangs, whisker birth marks and this feral aura around him. Even under his genjutsu, Hinata could still feel the aura around him. Right now however, she felt none of it.

Activating the Byakugan, she gasped when she realized that Naruto didn't have the genjutsu on him; meaning that he really looked normal right now. But that couldn't be right, she was certain that he always wore a genjutsu to hide his more animalistic features. So why…

"Yo, Hinata-chan… you ok?" Naruto asked as he waved his hand in front of her face. She blinked repeatedly as she was snapped out of her thoughts.

"H-Huh?"

"You were out of it for awhile but you seem fine now. Anyway, come on, let's practice." He said; his energetic spirit and smile returning. Hinata nodded slowly as remembered what he said not long ago.

"A-Ano, Naruto-kun, who do we only have two hours?" She asked curiously.

"Because something big is going to happen." He answered vaguely and started to practice his hand signs. Hinata stared at him in wonder for a few minutes before picking up her scroll and starting to practice the easiest of the three jutsus. Whatever Naruto had planned, she hoped that it wouldn't cause too much trouble.

In the shadows of some trees a few meters away from the two, a figure watched in interest as the young girl came at the most unsuspecting and worst possible moment… for her. All the figure had to do was wait for the best moment to strike, then he would rid himself of the future headache.

* * *

**So yeah, that's it....**

**Ok, before someone rants on me: yes, this is the best thing I could come up with for improving the academy... It's nothing special but i honestly think it's better than how it was before... Besides, it's called compromising so Naruto couldn't have the academy exactly how he wanted it... **

**Another thing, Yu Hikarusake, totally made up... I seriously have no idea if there is a japanese last name like "Hikarusake"...**

**Uhm, I can't remember what else I wanted to address so, if you have anything to talk about or want to help better my story, let me know...**

**???:**** YO!**

**Angelito Soldado:**** Ah, what the hell you doing here?!**

**???:**** That hurts, first you invite me over and then you leave me alone in your living room while you type this!**

**Angelito Soldado:**** For the fourth freaking time, I didn't invite you over, you came over unannounced and sat in the living room for some unknown reason... *sigh* in the immortal words of Shikamaru; troublesome...**

**???:**** You jerk!**

**Angelito Soldado:**** How much more trouble are you going to cause before I can continue?**

**???:**** Until you introduce me.**

**Angelito Soldado:**** Why, not like anyone's really reading this...**

**???:**** Just do it!**

**Angelito Soldado:**** *sigh* this is my troublesome [???: Oye!] neighbor who's name will be, for protection reasons, Troublesome-latina....**

**Troublesome-latina****:**** That's not a good name pendejo!**

**Angelito Soldado:**** Can we please refrain from cussing in spanish, I think we have people who can read spanish reading this story... Besides, we both know who's the more advanced in spanish and knows more cuss words...**

**Troublesome-latina:**** Not my problem, just change my damn name!**

**Angelito Soldado:**** Of course not "-_-... Fine then, I'll change it ya happy!**

**The Hidden Rose:**** There, that's more like it. Actually, I like this name a lot. No wonder you're an author.**

**Angelito Soldado:**** Really? it took you that long to realize...?**

**The Hidden Rose:**** ...............shuddup!**

**Angelito Soldado:**** The hell you want?!**

**The Hidden Rose:**** I just wanted to say that you got the characters all wrong**

**Angelito Soldado:**** ...............................do explain............**

**The Hidden Rose:**** Hinata for example! She's a girl and my favorite Naruto girl! She's supposed to have a back bone and supposed to be in charge! She can't be hiding behind Naruto!**

**Angelito Soldado:**** While I normally would agree with you, Hinata is a different [_'thank god!'_]... I'm just keeping them in character and in the anime, she's shy and hesitant... that's why I like her so much, she's nice, pretty, and... well, the opposite of you...**

**The Hidden Rose:**** Jerk. Oh, did you tell them about Naraku?!**

**Angelito Soldado:**** You idiot...**

**The Hidden Rose:**** ........Sooooooooooooooo, you didn't tell them yet...**

**Angelito Soldado:**** ......no, actually I didn't...**

**The Hidden Rose:**** Oh, heh heh sorry. Anyway, can I do it?!**

**Angelito Soldado:**** Do what?**

**The Hidden Rose:**** That thing you always do at the end of the chapter!**

**Angelito Soldado:**** .................*sigh* go for it...**

**The Hidden Rose:**** YAY!!! Ok... ahem...**

**Next Chapter: It Finally Happens, Hinata Confesses!**

**Angelito Soldado:**** OYE! If you're going to do it, do it right!!! Don't give my readers false hope!**

**The Hidden Rose:**** Yeah ok, don't have to be such a kill joy. You know as much as I do that you want Hinata to confess to Naruto already.**

**Angelito Soldado:**** Not at the moment... I have a few plans before they get together...**

**The Hidden Rose:**** Really? Maybe you're not a big Naruhina fan as I thought you were. That means I'm a bigger Naruhina fan than you!**

**Angelito Soldado:**** Yeah, that's why you have your own stories and have them on this site right...?**

**The Hidden Rose:**** ................**

**Angelito Soldado:**** Hn, just do the damn thing!**

**The Hidden Rose:**** Relax, I'm going!**

**Next Chapter: See that which spins the Wheel of Fate...**

**Oh I feel special.**

**Angelito Soldado:**** Considering this is you we're talking about, we all know you're special...**

**The Hidden Rose:**** I'll take that as a compliment. You know what, I just might come back to bother you again another time.**

**Angelito Soldado:**** *Sigh* oh goody...**

**Good luck with whatever and if you got a problem with me or one of my stories, please feel free to: Deal with it, Get over it or Choke on it!**


	9. See that which spins the Wheel of Fate

**Que onda!**

**I have... well some terrible news...**

**Because people have realized my smarts, I was unfortunately sent to take an AP class... How horrible! Class just began again and we already got a project!!! TRAGIC!!!**

**So till summer vacation starts again, my updates will get slower than usual so, sorry...**

**_"If we listened to our intellect, we'd never have a love affair. We'd never have a friendship. We'd never go into business, because we'd be too cynical. Well, that's nonsense. You've got to jump off cliffs all the time and build your wings on the way down."_**

**_-Ray Bradbury-_**

**Just to let you, my readers, know, so far on the poll, the option 'Only Naruto' is winning... Not by a lot but it definitely took the lead... Followed by 'yes' and 'no' in a tie... I won't say by how much but the poll is still open so you can still vote if you haven't...**

**Enjoy, might be a long time till its update again...**

**Chapter 9: See that which spins the Wheel of Fate...**

**I don't own Naruto or Inuyasha!**

* * *

Naruto panted as he closed his eyes with a smile. He couldn't believe he had learned three of the five new jutsus in the last two hours; all three kicked ass if he did say so himself. Yeah he did use the shadow clones to quicken the pace but it wasn't necessarily cheating. Lucky for him, he re-read the shadow clone jutsu's description or he probably would've learned only one or two jutsus.

Naruto opened his eyes and looked up to see a panting Hinata who looked like she was ready to collapse from exhaustion and sleep for the rest of the month. He had seen her practice one of the three jutsus and was happy to see her get it down thirty minutes ago. She began to learn the second jutsu but stopped to rest for a while.

"Ne Hianta-chan," Hinata looked up at him. "I think we should put this stuff away and… well, can you go home?" Naruto said, scratching the back of his head sheepishly.

"W-Why Naruto-kun?" She asked, confused by his sudden favor. He became even more sheepish as he moved over to her.

"Well, it's not something I can explain at the moment considering we're out of time but I promise I'll explain it later." Hinata looked at him skeptically, wondering what was going on. She was going to find out; it would violate his privacy but she was really worried about him. She nodded her head and waved goodbye to him as she exited the clearing, only to hide in the bushes a second later. She noticed that Naruto's breathing became a little shallower as he let out a deep breath.

"I'm glad she's gone, I don't think she'd look at me the same if she found out." Hinata examined Naruto a little more, wondering what exactly he meant.

"Ahha! I found you!" Hinata heard a new voice say.

"I… I-Iruka-sensei? What are you doing here?! You're not supposed to be here!" Naruto said in a panicked voice followed by Iruka's semi-insane chuckle.

"What am I doing here? I wouldn't be here if you didn't steal the Scroll of Seals! Why'd you do it Naruto?" Iruka asked with a disappointed tone. "Why Naruto, there should be no reason why you took the scroll."

"Iruka if you'd just listen for one second, I can tell you why I have the scroll." Iruka looked at him doubtfully but let him talk. "Mizuki-sensei told me that if-"

"What?" Iruka interrupted, a little shocked over the news.

'_Mizuki,e's behind all this?_' Iruka thought incredulously. A silhouette smirks in the distance as it throws a fuuma shuriken, a very large projectile, at the unsuspecting chunin and academy student. Fortunately, Naruto did notice the approaching weapon and also noticed Iruka was too shocked to react to the shuriken, he shoved Iruka out of the way and the shuriken hit him straight in the chest, piercing into his organs. Naruto fell on the floor with a dull thud and lay motionless under the shuriken. His eyes were unfocused as they stared at Iruka, a little blood coming out of his mouth.

Again, Iruka was too surprised to react when Mizuki came from out of the shadows.

"I was aiming for both of you but it seems the demon brat has better senses than I thought he had." He turned his head to look at Iruka, unaware that his fellow teacher and chunin was now angry at with him for his treachery and for killing Naruto. "Looks like I saved the village from the demon." Mizuki said proudly.

"HOW DARE YOU!" He bellowed, Mizuki frowns and completely faces Iruka.

"What do you care?" The grey-haired chuunin asks. "Don't you remember he's the reason why you were an orphan? The reason why your parents never came home after his attack on the village." Mizuki questioned. Iruka held his head low, seeming to be thinking about Mizuki's words.

"That is true; the demon did kill my parents and attacked the village." Iruka raised his head and glared at the deceitful chunin. "However, he is not the demon himself, even if something might have happened to the seal, Naruto and Kyuubi are two different beings." Iruka said with conviction.

"Heh… hear that teme?" Both Iruka and Mizuki were surprised to hear Naruto's voice and turn to see him standing with the shuriken still in his chest. "Just like Iruka-sensei, I didn't fall for your lies." He said as his suddenly disappeared in a cloud of smoke; surprising the two chunins even more. Before either could make a move, Naruto appeared in front of Mizuki and raised his knee to collide with Mizuki's chin.

Mizuki flew back and rolled on the ground before recovering. He snarled as Naruto smirked and Iruka walked to his side.

"Naruto, how did you…"

"I never liked the guy; he always smelled of death and snakes. Besides, when he told me that he could rearrange the teams so I would be in Hinata and Shikamaru's was a bit suspicious so, I asked the old man about it." Naruto informed both chunins, making Mizuki start to panic. "He found it strange as well and would've arrested Mizuki for treason… if it wasn't my plan."

"P-Plan?" Both chunin stuttered. Naruto nodded as three ANBU appeared behind Naruto as well as his brother who was snarling at Mizuki.

"You bastard." Inuyasha growled as Iruka took note that his odd white hair and other hanyō features were gone, making him look human. Suddenly, a vicious smirk appeared on Inuyasha's lips. "I'm going to enjoy this." He said as he cracked his knuckles loudly. However, before anyone could make a move, a blur passed by the three Anbu, Mizuki and Iruka. Suddenly, blood started to spray into the air and all five men fell to their knees or immediately fell o their backs, unconscious and/or dead.

"What the…" Inuyasha said before he was pushed back by a powerful white blur. He flew in the air before crashing through a tree and falling on his stomach, getting knocked out. Hinata, still in hiding, gasped as she witnessed the gore and blood flying everywhere. She was scared, wondering if she was going to be next but sudden, something grabbed her by the scruff of her neck. She looked at the person who grabbed her and before she could scream, pressure was applied to her pressure point on her neck and she was knocked out.

"Aniki!" Naruto shouted as he ran towards Inuyasha only to stop when the white blur appeared in front of him. "Damn it, why did you come now of all days?!" Naruto shouted as he jumped back from Sesshōmaru. His face was as passive as ever as he held something behind his back. His clothes ruffled in the passing breeze flew by.

"Come with me boy." Sesshōmaru said and Naruto growled.

"Like hell I will!" Naruto answered back as he fell into a fighting stance. He knew that even if he had hanyō blood, he wouldn't lay a finger on someone as powerful as Sesshōmaru. However, he still couldn't just agree with him, he was Naruto Uzumaki and he didn't go down without a fight.

"You will come peacefully or," Naruto's eye widened when Sesshōmaru held an unconscious Hinata in his hands. "Your mate dies." Naruto snarled, too angry to acknowledge the 'mate' comment. He stood up again and tensed up.

"Fine, but let her go." He said and no longer than a second after he said that did chains wrap themselves around him and constrict him from any movement. He looked down and saw a smirking Jaken. "Ah Jaken, still as short and ugly as ever." He commented as Jaken got a tick mark on his forehead.

"Arrogant little hanyō, I would retort but seeing as you're… all tied up at the moment, I won't." Jaken snickered at his bad pun and Naruto sweat dropped.

"That was sad." Naruto said.

"Regardless, you will come with us and you will show us where _it_ lies." Sesshōmaru said impassively as he let Hinata fall from his grip onto the ground. Naruto growled at Sesshōmaru's carelessness but before he was able to voice his thoughts, Sesshōmaru disappeared from his sight and everything went black. "Let's go Jaken, we have no time to waste." Jaken nodded as Sesshōmaru threw Naruto over his shoulder and a cloud started to accumulate under his feet. Jaken jumped on the cloud with Sesshōmaru and they began to fly up and away from Konoha.

[*.*.*.*]

Hinata started to slowly stir, her eyes opening gradually before closing again and repeating this process until they remained open. Blinking, she slowly rose from the ground and looked around. She then remembered that before she lost consciousness, everyone but Naruto and Inuyasha were killed. She stood and saw Iruka, Mizuki and the three ANBU unmoving on the ground while she saw Inuyasha also unmoving but was sitting on a tree. She ran to him since he seemed the least injured.

Right before she was able to completely reach him. His eyes snapped open and looked at Hinata.

"Hinata… argh, what happened?" He said as he rubbed his head and the pain travelled all over his body.

"I-I'm not sure, I only s-saw someone…" Hinata started to shake and her voice was starting to break down. It was horrible; she had just witnessed the death of five men. Inuyasha remembered and stood up, ignoring the pain in his back.

"Never mind." He said as he took in a deep breath. "Damn it! If it wasn't the night of the new moon then I wouldn't have a problem noticing the intruder's scent." Inuyasha cursed as he used the tree beside him to keep from falling. Hinata looked around again and noticed something.

"W-Where's Naruto-kun?" She asked, worried for her crush. Inuyasha looked around, frantically looking for Naruto. He stopped as he remembered a white blur and the expression on his face was one of realization.

"He didn't…" Inuyasha whispered in disbelief and anger.

"A-Ano… w-who are you t-talking about?" Hinata asked and Inuyasha looked at her.

"My brother… he was the white blur, he… he took Naruto." He told her and then clenched his right fist tightly as he growled. He relaxed a second later and then headed in the direction opposite of Konoha.

"W-Where are you going?" Hinata asked as she walked next to Inuyasha. He didn't look at her as he took in a deep breath.

"To get Naruto back." Hinata looked at him for a while before she cleared her throat.

"I-I'm going with y-you." Hinata, getting glared at by Inuyasha, only shivered as his brown eyes glared at her. She refused to back down, to not help him bring Naruto back. As if it never happened, Inuyasha looked forward and smirked.

"Alright." He said as they disappeared from the clearing. A minute later, five ANBU and Hiruzen appeared, looking around at the carnage. He let out a sigh and the five ANBU started to recover the cadavers of their fallen comrades; well, except for Mizuki but that's not the point.

"Sir, this one's still alive!" One ANBU shouted and when Hiruzen saw who survived, he was glad; he really didn't want to face Naruto if he realized that this man didn't survived.

[*.*.*.*]

"Milord!" Jaken shouted as he ran to catch up with his two-headed staff that was floating in midair, the faces looking at an old tomb. "Here is the tomb we've been looking for." Walking up to Jaken with an unconscious Naruto on his shoulder, Sesshōmaru looked at the tomb with a calculating stare.

"You sure?" He asked.

"Aye milord, the staff has always led us without fail. Clearly, this is the tomb we seek." Running up the trail, Jaken panted more. "I'll prove it." He said as he neared the tomb, however a second later, a couple of stray dogs appeared, surround Jaken and Sesshōmaru. "Ah!" Jaken shouted in panic as he ran behind his master. "Y-You see, it's exactly as I e-expected." Jaken continued.

Sesshōmaru walked up the trail as the dogs started to come closer to him.

"N-Nice… doggies." Jaken said as Sesshōmaru looked around, analyzing every snarling, growling and barking dog around him. The dogs' brown fur standing on end to intimidate the Daiyōkai as best they could.

"The fang," Sesshōmaru began, "The fang is what I seek. Once I possess it, I will hold an even greater power than what I originally have." The dogs grew more feral and Sesshōmaru let out one mirthless chuckle. "Yet, why must I explain? Power is what it is; I can't always be limited. Can it be that I am afraid… or is it that I know not my own limits?"

Sesshōmaru raised his left hand, while Naruto remained on his right shoulder, and started to glow an ominous green. A long, acid green rope of light appeared from his left hand and dropped down, almost reaching the ground. He then started to spin as the dogs all pounced at him simultaneously. The long acid green rope began to twirl around Sesshōmaru as his speed picked up.

"The fang, it is the fang I seek here." He said as the dogs came in contact with the acid green rope and it suddenly ripped every dog to shred until nothing remained but their torn up carcasses. "Position the staff Jaken." Sesshōmaru ordered.

"Yes milord." Jaken said, giggling as he climbed up the stone tomb with the staff, giggling as he did so. He let the bottom of the staff connect with the roof of the tomb and a second later, the woman's head on the staff snapped her eyes open and shrieked.

"This time, the beauty was the one who responded. Do not tell me we have been misled?" He asked and realized Sesshōmaru had dropped Naruto by the tomb and was reading a note placed by the tomb. Jaken heard Sesshōmaru snarl from time to time as he continued to read the note until he grew tired and burn the note with his poison claw.

"Milord, is there something I should know?" Jaken as ked and was a little disturbed when he saw Sesshōmaru's lips twitch upward.

"There has been a change in plans." Sesshōmaru stated as he started to walk down the trail leading away from the tomb.

"Wait up milord!" Jaken shouted, grabbing onto Naruto's legs and dragging him as he tried to catch up to Sesshōmaru.

[*.*.*.*]

Inuyasha continued to walk down as Hinata tried to stay awake; they've been walking for what seemed like days now. She took note that Inuyasha seemed to be getting a bit more feral and stronger, making her wonder how that was possible. From the way the sky looked, Hinata had no doubt that it wouldn't be long until the sun rose. She was going to be in so much trouble when she got home.

"Hold on." Inuyasha said as he raised his hand in front of Hinata. She stopped and looked at him before being shoved behind a tree. Inuyasha ran to hide with her and she looked everywhere, wondering what was happening. Suddenly, she heard something rumble; almost as if it was a giant foot stomping against the ground. Looking from behind the tree, Hinata's eyes widened while Inuyasha growled.

"N-Naruto-kun." She managed to say through her shock as she saw a giant demon with beige, shaggy hair, two short horns on his forehead and red angry eyes holding Naruto in his left palm with chains wrapped around Naruto. Inuyasha growled as he grabbed shuriken and kunai in his pouch and threw them at the demon's face. Before they were able to hit however, a giant flame appeared from nowhere and burned the kunai and shuriken to nothing. The flame continued forward and Inuyasha held onto Hinata before moving out of the fire's way as it hit the tree and began to burn it away.

"You missed!" Inuyasha growled as Jaken cursed under his breath.

"Jaken," Jaken turned to see Sesshōmaru with his hands folded in front of his torso. "When we're done, I expect to see him dead." Jaken gulped nervously and nodded.

"It is you, I knew it… Sesshōmaru!" Inuyasha yelled, getting Sesshōmaru's attention.

"Indeed, and I must say that I have missed you as well, little brother." Sesshōmaru's lips bent up a little as Inuyasha calmed himself down, not needing to rush into battle without a strategy. Hinata looked incredulous at Inuyasha and then at Sesshōmaru.

"L-Little brother?" Hinata asked and Inuyasha nodded. Sesshōmaru's eyes twitched at seeing Hinata before they relaxed.

"A mortal? How interesting." Sesshōmaru said still on top of the demon.

"Y-Yeah." Hinata said, still scared of the giant demon in front of her.

"Others would be ashamed to be hanging around a mortal, and a young one at that, but with you, little brother, it quite suits you." Sesshōmaru mocked as the demon's jagged teeth vibrated from the growl coming from its throat. Jaken pulled on one of the chains on Naruto, causing it to tighten around his neck and earning a groan from the blond haired boy. Slowly, his consciousness was starting to return.

"These human creatures, I should think you've had enough of them… or is it a taste from father?" Sesshōmaru continued. Inuyasha clenched his teeth and fist as his anger was starting to get the better of him. Hinata looked between the two brothers, noticing the slight similarities between the two.

_So… his mother was human then?'_ Were Hinata's thoughts.

"That's not all is it?! I doubt that you came all this way just to tell me that!" Inuyasha yelled in anger.

"Don't be such a fool; I have no time to waste." The demon then went closer to the two as Inuyasha and Hinata took a few steps back. "Our father's tomb, where must I seek it?"

"Our father's tomb? Why do you want to know?" Inuyasha yelled back. "Besides, why ask me?"

"It was said that you were the protector of the tomb and are you not this young hanyō's guardian, its protector?" Sesshōmaru asked and Inuyasha growled but then smirked at seeing the sun barely rise.

"Yeah but what does he have to do with our father's tomb, he wasn't even born when father died!" Sesshōmaru glared at Inuyasha, seeing what he meant.

"Seeing but not seen, protected yet never known by its protector; that's all is known and all I was given."

"The hell does that even mean? Besides, even if I knew where it was, I'd never tell you where it is!" Inuyasha retorted, thinking he had one.

"I see, then you leave me no choice but to make your 'younger brother' suffer until you decided to tell me." Sesshōmaru's whip of light appeared from the tip of his left fingers and whipped the demon in the face. It growled in pain before its left palm started to close a bit. Semiconscious, Naruto shouted in pain as he felt the demon squeeze the life out of him.

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata shouted in worry. Naruto opened his right eye and saw Inuyasha and Hinata.

"ARH! Aniki! Hinata-chan!" Naruto shouted before fainting from the amount of pain going through his entire body. As the sun appeared over the horizon, Inuyasha's dark hair faded into its normal white and his amber eyes returned along with his fangs, dog ears and claws. He crouched down before springing up.

"Stop hurting him! **Iron Reaper Soul Stealer!**" His claws lit up with demonic energy and he cut through the giant demons wrist, making it drop Naruto who was still knocked out. The giant staggered back as the pain travelled up its arm and through his body.

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata shouted as she ran over to him as the fall woke him up again.

"Hina-Hinata…" He said, barely having any conscious thoughts.

"Hinata, take Naruto and go back to the village!" Inuyasha yelled.

"You're not going anywhere. And you, do something you useless demon." Sesshōmaru said as he whipped the demon a couple of times before its only hands stretched out and attacked Naruto and Hinata.

"Damn!" Inuyasha jumped in the way and stopped the hand just before it squashed Naruto and Hinata. Unexpectedly, everything became faint to Hinata and Inuyasha.

"Inuyasha." A soft voice called out his name and he looked around. He was back in his old home, near the pond and the bridge.

"What? I was just-"

"Inuyasha." He stopped and turned to see someone he didn't think he'd see for the rest of his life.

"M-Mom?" He whispered as she made her way towards him. Her elegant, pink kimono with the flowers decorated on them was just like Inuyasha remembered them.

"My boy." She commented with a sweet smile. "It has been so long." Inuyasha didn't move from where he stood, still in shock.

"Hinata-chan." Hinata snapped her eyes wide and looked unbelieving at the person in front of her.

"M-Mother? I-Is that… you?" She asked, hoping that this was real. The women in front of her looked like a future version of Hinata and had an air of importance and grace that surrounded her. She had an expensive, lavender kimono with a blue obi.

"Yes my daughter, it is I." She said and Hinata cried as she ran and hugged her mother.

"Mother… I-I have missed you d-dearly!" She cried as she let her head rest on her mother's stomach. Her mother patted her back as she tried to soothe the sobbing girl with a small lullaby.

"Inuyasha, it's been so long, how have you been?" She asked and Inuyasha snapped out of his stupor.

"But… but you're dead, I know it." He said and his mother chuckled.

"I know, I am just visiting. I have missed you." She said and her voice was calming Inuyasha down.

"So have I, mother." He said in a daze.

"So my son, do you know where you're father's tomb is?" She asked with a warm smile and Inuyasha's amber eyes dulled as he fell to his knees. His mom then enveloped him in a deep hug.

"I'm sorry mother, I don't know." He answered in a daze.

"Please, think harder Inuyasha." She said and his face cringed and felt a headache come on.

Jaken smirked as he saw that both Inuyasha and Hinata were both in a trance like state. The genjutsu had worked! Since Naruto was knocked out, there was no need to waste energy on the boy.

"Milord, the genjutsu had worked!" Jaken said as he walked up to Inuyasha who still was holding the demon's hand back. The giant demon then retracted his hand and Inuyasha, with no support, fell forward and onto the ground, still trapped in the genjutsu. "It seems that humans come up with the most useful things." Jaken said as Sesshōmaru only grunted; not willing to admit or agree with what Jaken said.

"So where is the tomb?" Sesshōmaru asked and Jaken started to focus on his staff as the old man's eyes lit up.

"The right… black pearl." Inuyasha mumbled and confused Jaken.

"The right black pearl?" he asked aloud. "Lord Sesshōmaru, what does that mean?" Sesshōmaru moved past Jaken and picked up Inuyasha by his neck and held him up above the ground. Before he could do anything else, Naruto jumped to his feet and clawed at Sesshomaru. Sesshōmaru jumped back, letting go off Inuyasha and dropping him.

"Ah!" Jaken yelped as Naruto punted him in the gut and sent him into the air. Losing focus, Jaken lost the genjutsu as well, snapping Inuyasha and Hinata from their respective hallucinations. Naruto then fell to his left knee and grabbed his left arm; it was hurt from the demon squeezing it.

Inuyasha stood and growled, holding his head. Then Sesshōmaru appeared and grabbed his neck and squeezed it.

"Amazing, to believe that the tomb was hidden so well that not even I was able to perceive it." Sesshōmaru said.

"The hell do you mean you bastard?!" Inuyasha growled through the pain.

"Perhaps, to stop from having his corpse from being violated, father packed and sealed the tomb in the right black pearl." Sesshōmaru continued, ignoring Inuyasha's struggling and comments.

"The hell you talking about?" Inuyasha said.

"Was it entrusted to you without your knowledge? If that's the case…" Before Inuyasha could question him, Sesshōmaru drove his left index and middle finger into Inuyasha's right eye.

"Aniki/Inuyasha-san!" Hinata and Naruto yelled as Inuyasha gasped in pain.

"Let's pay father a visit!" Sesshōmaru finished as he ripped out a small, black pearl from Inuyasha's right eye. Inuyasha staggered back and held his his head as blood seeped out of his eye lid.

"You bastard! You came all this way just for that?!" Inuyasha yelled.

"T-That's the… t-tomb?" Hinata asked, a bit skeptically. Sesshōmaru let the pearl drop to the floor and grabbed the two headed staff near him and slammed it on top of the pearl. The old man opened his eyes and started to laugh in an insane manner. Jaken, who just returned from his trip from the other side of the forest, stared in shock.

"The old man's laughing… and the tomb is opening!" He commented as a black light began to swirl around the pearl. Sesshōmaru wasted no time as he jumped into the portal, followed by Jaken.

"C-Come on Naruto-kun, we need t-to make sure you're o-ok." Hinata said but Naruto didn't budge.

"No Hinata, we need to go in there and stop Sesshōmaru. A couple of times I regained consciousness, Sesshōmaru talked about Inuyasha's father's treasure that is in his tomb. Come on aniki!" Naruto shouted and Inuyasha squinted his right eye closed as he stood up.

"No, Hinata's right, you go back and-" Before he could finish, Naruto already got on foot in the portal.

"Come on, you're too slow." He said and then saw Hinata walk up to the portal. "Hinata I think you should-" he was then pushed in by Inuyasha who grabbed onto Hinata and jumped into the portal with her.

"She's better off with us since you give me no choice…" Inuyasha said before they suddenly appeared over a giant skeleton wearing armor. Dozens of skeletons with wings were flying around the place and Hinata closed her eyes. Naruto smiled, along with Inuyasha, as they continued to fall until they landed on one of the flying skeletons. After composing herself, Hinata looked around.

"Man that was awesome!" Naruto yelled as the flying skeleton brought them closer to the tomb. Finally taking a good luck of the tomb, Naruto's eyes widened. "That's your dad?!" He asked skeptically.

"You see it don't you?" Inuyasha asked sarcastically.

"Well how would I know?!" Naruto retorted angrily. After calming down, Naruto looked at it again, just as amazed by its sheer size as Hinata. "Wow, so this is your dad, the great yōkai. I guess this is him in his true form."

"N-Naruto-kun." Naruto looked at Hinata who was fiddling with her index fingers. "H-How do you k-know about this?" She asked and he looked at Inuyasha in wonderment.

"She knows, she actually has known for over a year now, maybe a little less." Inuyasha said and Naruto looked at her.

"You know my aniki is a hanyō?" Naruto asked Hinata and she nodded.

"I… ano, actually k-know that you're o-one too." She confessed and Naruto's eye widened and his brain shut off.

[*.*.*.*]

"I'm finally found you… Tessaiga." Sesshōmaru said as he approached the tattered sword embedded on a yellow platform inside his father's corpse. The whole place was covered in vines and skulls of many who dared to venture into his tomb before. "The treasured sword kept within father's corpse. Tessaiga, said to kill 100 demons in one swing."

"I heard that it was forged from your father's fang. That is to say, the one who holds it in his hands will inherit your father's spiritual powers." Jaken said from a distance. Sesshōmaru grabbed onto the hilt of the sword only to be shocked and letting it go.

"Eh?! What happened?" Jaken shrieked. Sesshōmaru scoffed as his burn marks on his hands started to heal.

"Figures… there's a kekkai on it." He observed.

"Sesshōmaru!" Sesshōmaru looked up to see Inuyasha, his right eye still bloody and closed, falling onto his with his claws glowing. "We're not done! **Iron Reaper Soul Stealer!**" Inuyasha shouted as his released his attack. Sesshōmaru jumped back and dodged Inuyasha's attack, making it strike against the skulls on the floor.

"Ah, Inuyasha, did you come here to dig your own grave…" Sesshōmaru mocked before his face became even more serious than usual. "Or is it that you've come to get Father's sword, the Tessaiga?" Sesshōmaru interrogated.

"Tessaiga?" Naruto echoed as he landed on the other side of the room with Hinata on his back as they watched from a second floor. "That's what you were attacking us for… that dull sword? You gotta be kidding me." Naruto said.

"So I'm guessing since you still don't have the Tessaiga in your hands that you can't pull it out." Inuyasha stated more than asked, making Sesshōmaru's eyes narrow.

"Are you insinuating that you can?" Sesshōmaru asked. Inuyasha scoffed with a smirk.

"The tomb was entrusted to me wasn't it?" Inuyasha then made a bee line for Sesshōmaru. "Besides, I'm not interested in some worn out sword!" Inuyasha yelled as he thrusted his right claw forward, positioned to penetrate skin. However, Sesshōmaru was quicker, effectively evading the strike.

"What are you aiming at?" He mocked. Inuyasha composed himself and charged at Sesshōmaru again.

"Quit screwing with my head!" He yelled as he tried to hit his brother again. But once again, it was fruitless.

"Such predictable moves." Sesshōmaru said.

"Aniki, just get the damn sword! It's better than nothing!" Naruto shouted.

"Shut up!" Inuyasha retorted as he continued the attack.

"Inuyasha-san," Hinata said, getting said hanyō's attention. "I-If you can d-do what your b-brother couldn't do, then you w-would dishonor him." Her words hit their mark as he stopped attacking. "h-He'd be disgraced!" She said loudly as he smirked.

"I get it, it'll annoy him to see my pull it out when he couldn't" Inuyasha said, understanding the Hyuga Heiress's words.

"Like a half breed like you could remove the sword." Sesshōmaru said and Inuyasha ran to Tessaiga. He grabbed onto the hilt and started to pull on it. It lit up and Inuyasha felt sweat start to accumulate on his forehead.

"N-No way." Jaken stuttered as he watched from afar. Just as soon as the light appeared, it disappeared and the sword was still stuck on the platform.

"EH?" Were the thoughts of everyone but Sesshōmaru.

"This farce is over…" Sesshōmaru said as he appeared behind Inuyasha. Inuyasha jumped back and Sesshōmaru followed after him. "It seems that not even you were destined to hold the Tessaiga brother. Now die by my poison claw!" He thrust his hand forward and Inuyasha tilted his head before it was able to touch him. Inuyasha then moved away from Sesshōmaru to recover. Naruto growled as he jumped down and helped his brother fight against Sesshōmaru.

"**Shadow Clone Jutsu!**" Naruto shouted as dozens of clones appeared and piled on top of Sesshōmaru. Naruto chuckled while Inuyasha panted a bit.

"It's not over." Was all Inuyasha said before all the clones seemed to melt a bit before dispersing. Naruto shivered as the memory of the clones returned; it was not something he wanted to try again unless he had too. Grunting, Naruto started to make hand signs with a mischievous smile on his lips.

"Well, try this one on for size! **Ninja Art: Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu!**" Naruto shouted as he threw a shuriken before multiple shuriken appeared from nowhere and were headed towards Sesshōmaru. He didn't flinch as he was able to sneak past the shuriken with his speed and ran towards the two hanyō.

"Heh-heh, don't worry Lord Sesshōmaru, I'll help you!" Before he was able to take another step, Hinata jumped down and landed on his head.

"N-No, you won't." Hinata said as she tried to take the two headed staff away from Jaken. He, however, recovered quickly and swatted Hinata away with his staff. She landed near the Tessaiga and held on to its hilt.

"Damn it, you're getting too close, **Wind Sword Ju**-" Naruto said as prepared his jutsu but Sesshōmaru appeared and struck his stomach with a closed fist. Naruto spat out blood from the blow before being sent back and hitting the wall with an insane force.

"Naruto!" Inuyasha shouted before Sesshōmaru tackled him down and had his claw on Inuyasha's chest. Holding the poisonous claw up, Sesshōmaru prepared to end his younger brother's life.

"Dissolve…"

"Naruto-kun, Inuyasha-san!" Hinata shouted as she ran to the two but unknowingly still holding on to the Tessaiga. It didn't take long for the sword to unhitch itself and be free from the yellow platform. Everyone watching stared at her in disbelief, even Sesshōmaru, no one was making a move. "S-Sorry… it slipped." She said in defense.

"I… Impossible…" Jaken stuttered out after snapping out of his shock. Sesshōmaru stood and looked at Hinata intently. Inuyasha noticed this and jumped up!

"You're fight is with me!" Inuyasha shouted as he tried to claw at his brother. Sesshōmaru disappeared before Inuyasha was able to scratch him and appeared before Hinata. She gasped and took a couple of steps back.

"You… who are you and why were you able to draw the Tessaiga?" Sesshōmaru asked passively.

"Don't… D-Don't come any c-closer or I-I'll…" Hinata threatened but was interrupted when Sesshōmaru's glare silenced her.

"Don't you dare touch her! She has nothing to do with this!" Inuyasha bellowed as he rushed to Hinata's side.

"I beg to differ, especially since she's your younger brother's mate." Sesshōmaru said as his poison claw was thrown forward and hit the Tessaiga which was being held up by Hinata. "Be annihilated by my poison claw." Hinata was thrown against the wall and disappeared into the melt wall, with only the Tessaiga visible.

"Hinata!" Inuyasha yelled as he ran to the dissolved wall and started to look for Hinata however, after a minute, he found nothing.

"How dull, she was nothing but an ordinary girl." Sesshōmaru commented before a sudden killing intent filled the place. Sesshōmaru looked at the side and saw Naruto crawling out of the small crack he made on the wall.

"RAWR!" Naruto roared feriously and, with new found speed, appeared before Sesshōmaru and punched him in the stomach. Sesshōmaru skidded back to a halt as Naruto's more demonic features made themselves more feral. "You… You… BASTARD!" Naruto shouted as he made quick hand signs. "**Wind Sword Jutsu!**"

A gust of wind amassed around Sesshōmaru before a tore showed up on Sesshōmaru's clothes. Then another appeared before some went deeper and drew blood from him. This continued for a couple of minutes before the wind died down, with Sesshōmaru looking impassive at him. He had from shallow to deep cuts all over his body and his clothes were ragged and torn. However, he was still standing, almost as if it was nothing. His blood stopped flowing out of his wounds as they slowly disappeared.

Sounds of movement and gurgling were heard behind Naruto and he turned to see Hinata coming out of the melted wall with the Tessaiga, unscratched.

"Hinata-chan!" Naruto said as he appeared by Hianta's side. "You're ok!" He said.

"I-I think it was the s-sword. Here." Hinata said and gave Inuyasha the sword. He looked at it incredulous before smirking. "I-I think you s-should have it… seeing a-as it's your f-fathers."

"Oh yeah, now it's time to test it out on Sesshōmaru." Inuyasha said as he gripped the Tessaiga's grip.

"That sounds like a challenge." Sesshōmaru said as his sclera became red and his features became more feral. "We'll see if a hanyō bastard is good enough to wield father's sword." Sesshōmaru said as he started to change form until he looked completely like a giant dog.

"H-He… He changed…" Hinata stuttered out in amazement.

"So he revealed his true form huh?" Inuyasha said, clearly amused. He then bent his knees before darting to Sesshōmaru. "I'll cover this sword with your blood!" He shouted as he swung down and the sword hit Sesshōmaru's fur before bouncing off. "I-It bounced?!" He said, not believing it himself.

"That's sad." Naruto commented, deadpanned and Hinata nodded. Sesshōmaru chuckled as he tried to bite Inuyasha. Inuyasha jumped back and the drool from Sesshōmaru's mouth jumped off his mouth and started to melt whatever it came in contact with. He tried to slam his paw on Inuyasha but Inuyasha was too quick to be caught. Instead, Sesshōmaru's paw hit the wall and melted it. Inuyasha struck down again at Sesshōmaru's paw but again, no results.

"GO ANIKI, THAT ONE DID SOME DAMAGE!" Naruto shouted. Inuyasha was in his face with a dead pan look.

"Now look you… that did ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!" Inuyasha screamed but Nartuo kept his smile.

"But, you're my aniki and that's your sword, I believe in you." He said innocently. Hinata nodded, also letting him know she believes in him.

"Look, I'm tough so I'll make it out of this but you two will get killed in this rate."Naruto and Hinata's moods became sober.

"So… i-it's no g-good?" Hinata asked sadly.

"We're doomed!" Naruto said loudly, holding his head.

"Shut up!" Inuyasha yelled, getting both of the kids' attention. "You're going to make it out of this because I'm protecting you two! Now shut up and watch!" Both gasped as Inuyasha returned his attention to Sesshōmaru. A pulse vibrated through Tessaiga and Inuyasha looked at it closely. _'A pulse?'_

"Don't worry milord, this hanyō is nothing!" Jaken cheered from a close spot near Naruto and Hinata. "Just eat him whole-"

"Shut up you imp! He's not going to lose!" Nartuo yelled as he threw a skull at Jaken.

'_This feeling… it's different from before…'_ Inuyasha looked up and then jumped in the air. Retracting Tessaiga back, he swung down on Sesshōmaru's right arm and the Tessaiga lit up, cutting Sesshōmaru's arm. He fell down with a whimper of pain and Inuyasha stared at Tessaiga's new form.

"This was made… from a fang?" He asked no one in particular. Naruto, Hinata and Jaken watched in awe as Sesshōmaru was brought down.

"Heh, I knew the idiot could do it." Naruto said lowly. Inuyasha charged again and slashed at Sesshōmaru's chest, making him groan and jump up, escaping the now crowded corpse.

"Wait for me Lord Sesshōmaru!" Jaken cried out as he followed after him. Inuyasha panted as smirked at his brother's retreating form.

"You did it!" Both Naruto and Hinata said as they ran to him. He looked up and heard Sesshōmaru roar.

"It's not over yet." He said as he jumped up and went to confront his brother again.

"Come on Hinata-chan, it's getting too dangerous down here." He bent down and with a blush, Hinata climb on his back and Naruto followed after Inuyasha. It never stopped amazing Hinata how powerful and agile Naruto was. When they reached the top, they saw Inuyasha thrown back from Sesshōmaru's paw swipe. His red robe began to slowly melt before stopping.

Sesshōmaru stood over Inuyasha with what seemed like a smile, thinking Inuyasha was done for. Inuyasha, however jumped, reacted quickly and swung as hard as he could against Sesshōmaru's left arm. Sesshōmaru whined loudly as his left arm was cut off his body. With Jaken on his back, Sesshōmaru flew into the air, disappearing in the sky.

Inuyasha fell to his right knee and used the Tessaiga to hold himself up.

"Aniki, are you ok?" Naruto asked as he and Hinata walked to his side. Inuyasha then started to chuckle before it grew to laughter.

"Gotta give it to you old man, you left me some heirloom." Inuyasha said to no one.

"Come on aniki, let go home."

[*.*.*.*]

"You're telling me," Inuyasha, Hinata and Naruto stood in front of Hiruzen in his office as he held a black pearl in between his left index finger and thumb. "That after Inuyasha took down a mountain sized demon, you three went into this small pearl to Inuyasha'sfather's tomb, fought off_ your_ brother with _your_ father's sword and lived?" Hiruzen asked with a raised eyebrow.

"That's the gist of it." Inuyasha answered nonchalantly. Hiruzen sighed then Inuyasha walked up to him and snatched the pearl from his hand. "Now give me back me pupil! I still can't see through my right eye." Everyone sweat dropped as Inuyasha placed the pearl in his eye.

"Considering all of that sounds ludicrous, we'll make it a S-rank secret. As for Mizuki, he was found dead after you three left." Everyone but Inuyasha and Hiruzen became wide eyed.

"W-What about Iruka-sensei?" Hinata asked.

"Luckily, he wasn't hit in any vital organ so he's in the hospital recovering." Naruto let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. "For the three of you, taking down Mizuki will be considered a B-ranked mission and you'll be paid as such." Retrieving three envelopes, he handed out to the three stunned hanyō and heiress.

"Awesome!" Naruto shouted. Inuyasha smirked and Hinata bowed, showing her thanks.

"Since there is nothing to address, you're all dismissed." Everyone nodded and headed out of the room. "And I'm glad you two passed the graduation." Hiruzen shouted before his office door was closed.

Outside, Inuyasha already had Naruto in a head lock.

"That's right, you two graduated huh?" Inuyasha asked as Naruto tried to free himself and Hinata giggled at the two and their antics. "How about we go eat Ichiraku's ramen… Naruto's treat!" Inuyasha said as he yanked Naruto's money from him and headed for Ichiraku's in an amazing speed. After two seconds, Naruto growled and ran after Inuyasha.

"Come back with my money!" Naruto shouted and Hinata ran after them, glad to have met people as interesting as the two hanyō.

* * *

**Nice huh? I think this is very actiony, don't you think?! I do, it actually took me a while to type this up!**

**Hidden Rose: I guess its good.**

**Angelito Soldado: ...............**

**Hidden Rose: ?**

**Angelito Soldado: Why are you here? Haven't I suffered enough?**

**Hidden Rose: Nope!**

**Angelito Soldado: Of course not... Anyways, what do you want now?**

**Hidden Rose: I said I'd come back to bother you again so here I am.**

**Angelito Soldado: Here you are...**

**Hidden Rose: And I came here to say my hello's. HEY LEAF RANGER!!!**

**Angelito Soldado: I'm surprised you remembered me telling you he said hi...**

**Hidden Rose: With a story like Fox Knight, it's hard to forget someone like him.**

**Angelito Soldado: You kinda sound like his fangirl... scary...**

**Hidden Rose: *glares* you know I hate fangirls!!! DON'T CALL ME A FANGIRL!**

**Angelito Soldado: O-Ok, my b-bad...**

**Hidden Rose: I liked this chapter I guess, better than anything you came up with for a long time. And, Jaken knows how to do genjutsus?**

**Angelito Soldado: -_-" That hurts... and because I didn't really want that odd lady demon involved, I settled with having Jaken know genjutsu... Sesshomaru, being the proud Yokai he is, won't know or learn any jutsus of any kind but Jaken will stumble across one or two more genjutsus... Just cuz I at least want him to be useful to Sesshomaru... I really hate the imp but like Orochimaru, I need him to be alive... **

**Oh and if anyone was curious about who wrote the note... well, I won't say who did now... Oh and those five jutsus Naruto wrote down and the ones hinata wrote down will be known... at a later time... **

**Hidden Rose: I guess. Oh, and finally, Inuyasha got his sword... YAY!!!!**

**Angelito Soldado: Yeah, people have been wondering where or if he had the sword so now, here's your answer... And-**

**Hidden Rose: When's Kagome coming into the picture?**

**Angelito Soldado: I was getting to that *glares and Hidden Rose goes to corner*... Anyways, Kagome will appear in the next chapter... If not, then the chapter after that but I'm pretty adamant about putting her on the next chapter...**

**Hidden Rose: YAY! Kagome's awesome! Kind of reminds me of hinata, except funnier.**

**Angelito Soldado: And a little meaner but yeah, she's cool too... Now that I think about it, how did you get into my house, it's almost one in the morning...**

**Hidden Rose: I knew you'd be up at this time and came through the back door. You need a new lock by the way.**

**Angelito Soldado:.......................You're just like Sasuke's fangir- *gets hit over head with ipod* Ow! *gets hit with steel chair***

**Hidden Rose: I told you I'm not a fangirl!!! *Angelito Soldado doesn't move* Ooops, I think I hit him too hard. Anyways:**

**Next Chapter: Teams and Missions, What are you doing here Inuyasha?**

**Come back and review please, I'm sure Angelito Soldado would appreciate it and in some way, I guess I would too! Now if you'll excuse us, someone needs to go to bed before someone gets in trouble, let's go Angelito Soldado.**

**Angelito Soldado: Who's Angelito Soldado? I'm Houdini and have magically pixie stix....**

**Hidden Rose: Tragic, and funny too. Say goodnight Angelito Soldado.**

**Angelito Soldado: Leave my spaghetti alone you chocolate bunny of death...!**

**Hidden Rose: Wow, weird dreams this kid has. He's lucky he's cute or I would've left him here. *sigh* oh and Angelito Soldado didn't get a chance to completely check for errors since he doesn't have a lot of free time, please remember that.**

**And Leaf Ranger, you better keep those kinds of comments to yourself. Hell has no furry like a woman's scorn! No matter how evil your OC is!**

**Angelito Soldado: That's why women are on Earth, there was no room in hell for their scorn... BAM! *Hidden Rose hits Angelito Soldado over the head with a bent up steel chair*.....................................**

**Hidden Rose: Jerkass, you know what, I'm leaving you here and hope you catch a cold!!!!**

**Good luck with whatever and if you got a problem with Angelito Soldado or one of his stories, please feel free to: Deal with it, Get over it or Choke on it...**


	10. Teams and Missions

**Ne, ne, I don't have much time to talk since my project still isn't done so here it is, chapter 10!**

**Also, procrastination is a b*tch huh? And the polls still open for those who haven't voted yet... "Only Naruto" is still in the lead... but that could change easily...**

**Specially thanks to everyone who reviewed and a very big and appreciating thanks to Adran06 who really kicks ass!!! He's my new BETA and you can all thank him for making this chapter even better than it was before... Really bro, I appreciate it!**

**_"Individually, we are one drop. Together, we are an ocean."  
*Ryunosuke Satoro* _**

**Chapter 10: Teams and Missions, What are you doing here Inuyasha?**

**I don't own Naruto or Inuyasha**

* * *

"Ah! This is soooooooo good!" Inuyasha commented as he finished slurping up his fifth bowl of ramen. Naruto, while eating his third bowl, was glaring at his aniki; he really didn't want to pay for all of this. Hinata, who was looking at our favorite blond at the moment, was slowly eating her first and last bowl, not really hungry. She was only eating because they had already ordered a bowl for her.

Yawning, Hinata really wanted to go home and sleep for the next twenty four hours. However, since it was around seven in the morning, she would have to rush home and prepare for the last day in the academy that started in about an hour and a half from now. Finishing up her ramen Hinata stood and bowed as both Inuyasha and Naruto got fresh, new bowls of ramen,.

"T-Thank you for i-inviting me to… b-breakfast but I must g-go now." She said, getting both the hanyō's attention. Inuyasha nodded before continuing to gobble up his ramen. Naruto held up his index finger while lifting up his ramen bowl and quickly eating up his ramen and slamming the empty bowl on the counter.

"Hold on Hinata-chan. Thanks for the ramen old man, aniki's paying!" Naruto shouted before grabbing his envelope, grabbing Hinata's hand and disappearing from sight as Inuyasha ignored everything around him, obliviously eating away his ramen at unprecedented speeds.

After they managed to get away from Ichiraku's, Naruto let go of Hinata's hand and put both of his hands behind his head as they walked down the street.

"Hey Hinata-chan, there's something I want to ask you." He said with a reflective expression on his face.

"W-what is it Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked nervously, wondering what he wanted to ask her. He kept quiet while looking at the sky ahead of him, seeming to be hesitant on asking the question.

"How did you know… I was a, well you know." He said as he looked at her. She blushed a little at the intensity of his stare and she looked down.

"I f-followed you after y-you skipped class. Y-You know, the one w-where Iruka-sensei stopped your f-fight with Sasuke?" Naruto nodded with a confused look, wondering where she was going with it. "Y-You went to the Hokage's o-office and… said that you were a… _hanyō._" Hinata whispered the last part, hoping no one but Naruto heard her.

"So that was you? I knew I smelled lavenders but I thought that was the old man. Phew, I was getting a little scared; lavender does not go well with the old man." Naruto said as he chuckled, making Hinata giggle. "Anyway, that's a long time ago Hinata-chan and you still see me in the same light as you did before. Thank you." Naruto said, making Hinata's blush darken.

'_I don't see you the same Naruto-kun… I actually like you more than I did before'_ Hinata wanted to say, but was too scared to do it. "Y-You did become my f-first real friend, I-I couldn't hate you j-just because you're… special." Hinata said with a warm smile. Naruto looked incredulous at Hinata before smiling and nodding. It didn't take long for the two to reach the Hyuga compound and Hinata stopped at the edge of the compound.

"T-Thank you for walking me t-to my house, Naruto-kun." Hinata thanked and Naruto shrugged his shoulders.

"Don't worry, it's the least I can do as a friend. Besides, I was going this was anyway. The hospital isn't too far away from here and I have to pay Iruka-sensei a visit." Naruto said.

"T-Tell him I said h-hi." Hinata said as she walked up to the front gates to her compound. Naruto nodded and would've left if not for Hinata holding on to his hand.

"Hmm?" He looked at her hand before looking up and seeing her red face.

"I-I… I don't think you should hide who you really are from people, Naruto-kun." Hinata told him, shocking him. Not only because she barely stuttered but because of what she was saying.

"I don't think that'd be a good idea Hinata-chan." She tilted her head to the side a little. "I was almost killed the first time because of my looks." Hinata smiled sympathetically before enveloping him in a hug, surprising them both.

"I'm sorry about that Naruto-kun but… you'd be surprised by how many people will accept the real you." Hinata said and after a while, released him from his the hug. She smiled warmly before bowing and walking away. Naruto, still in shock, watched her go, her words echoing in his head as he legs started to move again.

"M-Maybe… maybe she's right." He mused to himself as he started to think of everyone's reaction to his real self.

[*.*.*.*]

Iruka Umino sighed as his head was tilted to the side and the outside world was in his vision. The birds flew by and sang without a care in the world. He could hear footsteps and small conversation taking place right outside his hospital room since his window was open. Not that it mattered, since they were talking quite loudly.

Not much time had passed since he woke up and he already wanted to go home, or at the least go to the academy to see his students for one last time. As loud and annoying as they could get sometimes, he was going to miss them. This year's class was more interesting than any other class he'd ever taught; especially Naruto. No matter how much trouble he caused, no matter how many pranks he was the victim of because of Naruto, Iruka knew he would miss the hanyō in disguise.

**_Knock, Knock Knock…_**

Iruka turned his attention to the closed door across the room and groaned. It was probably that frisky nurse coming to give him that sponge bath she said she'd give him. As a man, he couldn't say that he'd hate to be given a sponge bath by an attractive nurse. However,he had his eyes on a special girl already and really didn't see any point in getting any other girl.

"Come in." Iruka said loud enough so the person behind the door could hear him. The door opened with a slight creak to it and when it was fully, Naruto was in his sights with a contemplative look on his face. However, as soon as Naruto saw Iruka-sensei, he forced a smile on his face and he went to his side. He sat down on a nearby chair and folded his hands together on his lap. "Ah Naruto, to what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?" Iruka asked and Naruto shook his head.

"I just came to make sure you were alive and well from yesterday's… event." Naruto said with a guilty smile.

"Don't worry Naruto; I don't blame you for what happened yesterday. Besides, what hit me?" Iruka asked as he picked himself up and sat up. Naruto looked away for a second before looking at Iruka.

"It was my aniki's older brother; well half brother but either way." Naruto said, waving his hand in front of him to show t hat it didn't matter. "He came looking for me and aniki and you just came at the wrong moment. Anyways, don't worry about it; me, aniki and Hinata-chan were able to solve it before it got too out of hand." Naruto told Iruka when he saw his concerned look. _'Unless you count Sesshōmaru changing to his giant dog form as out of hand… but Iruka-sensei doesn't have to know that.'_

"Oh, ok then. So, is that all you wanted to do? The academy starts in another thirty minutes and even if I'm not going to be there, I'll still make sure you get in trouble for being absent." Iruka said and Naruto nodded.

"You worry too much Iruka-sensei and you are going to be there today. Today's our last time together with the class and I'm not going to let you miss it." Naruto said as he stood up from his chair and walked to Iruka.

"What do you me- Naruto!" Iruka shouted as Naruto picked him up and put him on his shoulder with ease.

"Hold on Iruka-sensei!" Naruto said as he jumped out the open window. A few minutes later, a nurse came with a perverted smile and a sponge. Her smile disappeared when she saw that Iruka was missing.

Outside, Naruto was chuckling as Iruka had this panicked expression plastered on his face. If Naruto dropped him, he had no doubt that he'd become a human pancake.

"Naruto, put me down!" Iruka ordered and Naruto shook his head.

"If I put you down, you'll just go back to the hospital and that's not going to happen. Like I said, today's the last day and you're going to be there, whether you like it or not, so just shut up and relax." Naruto said and Iruka sighed with a defeated smile.

"If I promise that I'll go to the academy, will you let me walk on my own?" Iruka asked and Naruto stopped in the middle of an empty sidewalk.

"I guess. So… you promise?" Naruto asked and Iruka nodded. Naruto put Iruka down and Iruka dusted himself off before they both were slowly walking to the academy. Iruka didn't want to push his body to much and Naruto didn't want Iruka to hurt himself by trying to catch up to him. "Hey, Iruka-sensei........."

"Hmm?" Iruka looked down and saw Naruto with the contemplative look on his face. By the look of it, he seemed to be debating whether or not to say what he wanted to say.

"Did you mean what you said yesterday… you know, about me and fuzzbutt being two different beings?" Naruto asked skeptically. Iruka had a mildly surprised look on his face before he smiled.

"Yes Naruto, I did. Even if you do sometimes look like him, you are still Naruto just like fuzzbutt is still fuzzbutt." Iruka said as he chuckled at Naruto's choice words for the chakra beast. "Why do you ask Naruto?" Naruto looked down at the ground with new found interest while kicking a pebble he spotted.

"Well, I've been thinking, maybe I should drop the genjutsu and just be myself. To show everyone the real me and let them deal with it." Naruto said and Iruka turned his sights on the almost clear sky. He hummed as he thought over what Naruto wanted to do. To him it didn't seem like a bad idea until he remembered something.

It seemed that since Naruto was presumed dead, the advisers were able to convince the Third Hokage to remove the law that made talking about Kyuubi's attack and it being sealed into Naruto forbidden. After that, they forced Iruka and the other instructors to teach the students what really happened when Kyuubi attacked and how it was sealed in a newborn before it combined with the container. Just because he didn't want to ruin Naruto's name, the Thrid made sure the instructors never mentioned Naruto's name in any of the lectures.

This was when Iruka didn't know Naruto all that well and he cared very little about what laws were passed or what he had to teach concerning the hanyō. Now however, he had wished that they never passed the law; that they never taught the academy students about the Kyuubi and of Naruto. If he were to reveal who he really was, it would be much harder for Naruto to be accepted by his peers.

"Naruto," Naruto looked up at him with a questioningly gaze. Something in his eyes and just the look itself seemed to change Iruka's mind; besides, it was the last day he'd be in the academy, what harm could be done in such a little time? "I think you should do it." Iruka said and Naruto smiled before looking ahead. After a couple of minutes, Iruka grew curious.

"So, are you going to drop the genjutsu?" He asked and Naruto shook his head.

"Not here; the villagers still hate me even if I've been gone for seven years. Some people have been able to see through my disguise and still glare at me but not as much as they did before. For now, I am human and nothing more but in the academy, I'll show everyone what I really look like." Naruto said with conviction even though his voiced wavered a bit.

"You know, it's funny, I always knew you wore a genjutsu but I still don't know what you look like." Iruka said with laughter in his voice. Naruto laughed as they saw the academy at the end of the street.

"Don't worry Iruka-sensei, you'll see what I really look like. Everyone will see."

[*.*.*.*]

Hinata let out a sigh of content as she felt the water wash away the soap that helped clean her now naked body. Changing the temperature of the water so that it was warmer, Hinata applied shampoo to her short, dark blue hair and spread it out. Closing her eyes, Hinata savored the feel of the warm water running down her body and down the drain.

Letting the water from the shower head rinse her hair, Hinata looked down at her body and felt annoyed because of it. She had the misfortune to have developed at an early age and was not happy about it. That's why she wore her baggy tan sweater, so no one would notice her development. She didn't want to get the wrong attention from the opposite sex, she didn't want to be glared at with hate and envy by the other sill developing girls and most importantly…

She didn't want to lose her chance to be with Naruto who, in her mind, could get any girl he could want. He was something special, something she didn't see in any other boy; she saw the real him. Every other boy in her class would either put up a front or claim to be something they're not; Takeo was a prime example. He always proclaimed he was the best in everything but Naruto, Sasuke and occasionally Kiba would inadvertently prove him wrong.

Sasuke Uchiha… he was good looking, she had to admit. However, his cold demeanor and just secret ways did nothing to convince her to pursue him for romantic purposes. Even if he did, by some miracle, open up, she would still not see him as anything but a fellow comrade and citizen in their village. It just wouldn't feel right.

Kiba Inuzuka… well, he did remind her of Naruto but the thing was that Kiba didn't know where to draw the line when it came to his pride and enjoyment. Naruto knew when to stop when he felt he needed to, while Kiba didn't. There was also the fact that she also knew Kiba was a bit of a pervert, too much of one for her tastes.

Now that she thought about it, she wasn't sure if Naruto was a pervert. Was he? Was he a closest pervert like the instructors he accused? Hinata wasn't sure but a small, perverted side of her hoped he was.

She mentally scolded herself for thinking such thoughts; she was the Hyuga Heiress and as such, shouldn't be thinking like that. Calming herself down as she shut off the shower, she took her towel and started to dry her body off as her mind wandered to what happened earlier today. She blushed as she wrapped her towel around her slightly moist body. She hadn't expected to say or do anything she had done to Naruto. She would've fainted if it wasn't for the fact that the hug only lasted for a short time. And what happened after that…

"_Hinata." Stopping, Hinata turned to see her father looking at him with his stoic expression placed on his face. The difference was that in his eyes twinkled a little emotion that she identified as worry. "Where were you all night?" He asked with his voice as dead as usual._

"_I-I'm sorry father but y-yesterday night I w-was involved in a-a B-rank mission." She answered hesitantly. Hiashi's eyes twitched before relaxing._

"_I see. So what did you do on this mission?" Hiashi asked, wanting to know more._

"_I-I am sorry father but H-Hokage-sama told us t-to keep the detail o-of the mission to o-ourselves." Hinata answered and Hiashi nodded after thinking about it._

"_Was the mission successful?" He asked and Hinata nodded smartly. "I am proud then. Now go wash up, the academy should start in another hour." Hinata nodded and ran to her room to get her clean clothes before heading to the shower._

Putting on her baggy tan sweater, Hinata walked out of the Hyuga compound with a sense of sincerity and peace of mind. She wasn't sure why but, something told her that by the end of the day, at least half of her wishes would come true. She walked with a skip in her step and with a smile plastered on her face; either her shower had magical powers to cheer people up or she was happy that she survived the whole ordeal that happened last night. If it really was the former, she had to get her whole family to take a shower in her bathroom… er, as long as they brought their own soap, shampoo and conditioner.

Seeing the academy just around the corner, Hinata picked up her pace and made it to the front doors of the academy in no time. Stepping in, Hinata walked through the halls of the academy, looking around with a nostalgic air surrounding her. She would truly miss this place; this was where her friendship and feelings for Naruto developed and where she met her other friends.

Hinata opened the door to her classroom and walked inside but abruptly stopped at seeing the person who was filling in for Iruka.

[*.*.*.*]

Iruka winced a couple of times as he walked into the academy with Naruto holding the door open for him. No matter how amazing the medic nins were in their fields of expertise, they were no Tsunade, that was for sure. He could still feel the wound in his chest burning away from whatever had attacked him yesterday.

Walking up to the classroom door, he looked down at Naruto who, without his knowledge, had dropped his genjutsu. His golden, black tipped fox ears twitched at every sound they heard. His matching tail swished in a calm yet nervous manner, occasionally lightly hitting Iruka's leg. His fangs overlapped his bottom lip but were also barely noticeable. In his clenched fist were sharp claws that made Iruka have no doubt that Naruto could easily cut the door in front of them in half. Last were his slit pupil blue eyes, which was really the only difference in his eyes.

He smiled at Naruto and turned the door's knob.

"You ready?" Iruka asked and Nartuo nodded, albeit a bit hesitantly. Pushing the door open, the first thing Naruto saw made him freeze in his place.

"So you finally decided to show up eh? Oh? And you decided to drop the stupid act?" Naruto growled as he walked into the room and grabbed his aniki by his collar and brought him down to his level; ignoring the muttering he heard coming from his classmates.

"Shut up! I've had enough going through my mind already without you making my morning worse then it's probably going to be!" Naruto said and Inuyasha just smirked.

"Yeah, yeah just go sit down." Inuyasha said nonchalantly as Iruka walked behind his desk and sat in his chair. Some students waved at him and he waved back; cherishing the little time he was going to spend with his students.

As Naruto walked up the steps to his desk, his fox ears were twitching wildly as the murmurs and hushed tones of his fellow classmates and future comrades were heard.

"_What is wrong with him?" "Is this his idea of a sick joke?" "Wasn't the Kyuubi's container transformed into a hanyō?" "Is he the Kyuubi?" "My father warned me that the Kyuubi was still alive and I didn't believe him… till today."_

Naruto growled as this and other conversations were continuing around him. He wished for silence at the moment, nothing but sweet and calming silence. He clenched his fists and grit his teeth but the talking continued. Something had to be done before he snapped.

"HEY!" Naruto, along with the entire classroom stopped whatever they were doing and looked to the front of the classroom to see an angry Inuyasha and Iruka. "THE HELL IS UP WITH ALL THIS TALKING?!" Inuyasha roared as his voice held no room for arguments or for comments.

"Is there something anyone would like to say about Naruto's appearance?" Iruka said as he stood and wobbly stood beside a furious Inuyasha. Since his hearing wasn't as good as a hanyō's, he hadn't heard what the students were exactly talking about but he had a guess it had to do with Naruto's bold move. Inuyasha on the other hand had heard their whispers and gossip and to say he was angry was a huge understatement.

One student, whether brave or student depending on the eyes of the beholder, stood and pointed an accusing finger at Naruto.

"He's taking his pranks to far; he should be kicked out for doing something so stupid." Inuyasha, Iruka and Naruto glared at the boy, making him sit back down. Suddenly, another two students stood glaring at the young hanyō.

"I heard from my father that the Kyuubi was formed into a boy with fox ears and tails almost thirteen years ago."

"I heard that too. So that means that Naruto is the Kyuubi that killed my brother!" One boy yelled as he took out a kunai from his pouch and readied it in his hands. This was Naruto's response…

"Hn." The boy was angered by this response and also by the uncaring way he just walked up the steps to his seat. However his next comment caught him off guard. "I'm sorry." The boy looked at Naruto in shock before something in him snapped.

"You… Yo-You're sorry?" The boy gritted his teeth and tightened his hold on his kunai. Without prior warning, the boy sprang into action and ran to Naruto. Naruto turned and just stood there as the boy pushed his kunai forward. In a blink of an eye, Inuyasha was holding on to the crying boy's wrist as the kunai penetrated Naruto's skin and was buried in his midsection, letting blood flow freely from the wound.

"N-Naruto-kun!" Naruto heard Hinata yell out of concern. Naruto slowly grabbed onto the boy's hands and slowly removed his kunai from his body. Naruto felt his shirt stick to his body as his blood moistened his shirt. Raising the kunai to eye level, Naruto watched his blood fall down the kunai's blade. After the boy's tears disappeared and its dry trail was visible on his cheek, Naruto returned the kunai to the boy.

"This is yours." Was all he said before walking away to his seat. Normally, he would've defended; normally, he would've countered, _normally_ he wouldn't have let himself get stabbed by something as simple as a kunai. However, the situation he was in was different.

Naruto knew he was barely born when the Kyuubi attacked; that he couldn't even harm a fly at the time, let alone an entire village filled with assassins, experienced shinobi and the occasional civilian that knew some form of self-defense. However, Naruto couldn't help but feel guilty that his other half was responsible for destroying the village and taking away the lives of many shinobi. Yes, his other half.

He was a hanyō; half human… half demon. Following this logic, while one half of him was laying in the Yondaime's arms, the other was in front of them, destroying and killing everything in sight… until the Yondaime did what he had to do. So of course, using this logic as the foundation, his guilt grew and never once had he stopped the beatings he received, never once countered or defended himself when he was teased or cursed… never once had he once thought he didn't deserve what was done to him.

The only reason he hid his real self from the village wasn't because he wanted to end the village's taunts and beatings… it was for his friends. Ever since he found a friend in Hinata and Shikamaru, he didn't want them to be the scorn of the village like he was. He wanted them to have nothing to do with him however; he didn't want their kindness and friendship to end. He knew he was being selfish but what could he saw; he was human, if only partially.

"Kazoku Akimoto, you know you don't attack a fellow comrade. That's-"

"Don't punish him." Naruto said, interrupting Iruka and shocking everyone in the room. "It's a stupid reason to punish him; I'm alright aren't I? Let it go Iruka-sensei… I already did." Naruto said, whispering the last part. Inuyasha watched Naruto walk up the steps and take his seat next to Hinata who was already asking him if he was alright.

'_He's doing it again.'_ Inuyasha thought as he sighed and pushed the boy back and walked down the steps.

"Kazoku, I'm going to need to-"

"Drop it Iruka, the kid didn't want him to be punished so let him be." Inuyasha said as he finally reached the bottom of the steps. Iruka looked incredulous at Inuyasha. Catching him staring, Inuyasha scoffed. "_Leave it alone; when he gets like this, it's better to let him calm down."_ Inuyasha whispered as he turned around and watched as the other academy students talked amongst themselves.

Sakura, Ino and Kiba were still in shock of what happened, still debating whether or not Naruto was the Kyuubi or not. Shino was thinking along the same lines except his was debating on whether or not to trust Naruto since he hid his other half from everyone for the entire year. Choji and Shikamaru were looking at Naruto though they were hoping he was alright. Kyuubi or no Kyuubi, he was still their friend and nothing would change that. Sasuke was looking at Naruto with an unreadable look. He was contemplating something and his mouth seemed to twitch upward.

"Naruto-kun, are you sure you are alright?" Hinata asked for the third time. Naruto sighed as he lifted his blood stained orange shirt and she saw no wound; no indication that he was stabbed besides the dry blood.

"My body works differently than a human's body Hinata-chan." Naruto said before releasing his shirt and letting it fall. Clearing his throat, Inuyasha returned everyone's attention back to him.

"Alright you brats, you better listen now because I'm not going to mention this again. Team 1 will include Takeo…" Naruto tuned out his brother, not really caring for someone as troublesome as Takeo and who was on his team. He knew Hinata wouldn't be on his team since… well he didn't know how but he just did. Messing with the lint in his pockets, Naruto leaned back on his chair to allow his hand to have more room.

Shikamaru found nothing more troublesome than unnecessary conflict. He would avoid it at all cost and would occasionally help resolve it if his lazy mood permitted him. What Naruto had just done had gotten said blond more respect from the lazy Nara. No normal demon would let himself get attacked and let the attacker get away uninjured. '_Naruto Uzumaki… certainly an entertaining and unique character… unique indeed.'_

Hinata just watched as Naruto, with his eyes closed and breathing regulated, continued to play with the lint in his pocket. Hinata felt her heart pounding, almost begging to fly out of her chest. Her fondness and admiration for him seemed to solidify itself in her heart after witnessing what happened not long ago. Not only had he faced their classmates without his genjutsu, he stopped his attacker from being punished after being stabbed. Courage and benevolence; characteristics she wanted and saw in Naruto; her idol and object of her affections.

"Team 7: Sasuke Uchiha, Naruto Uzumaki…" Hinata's world seemed to freeze as Naruto returned from the world of the waking, having barely caught his name being called on. It clicked in his mind that he was on the same team as Sasuke. As if everyone seemed to freeze in time, the now two teammates locked stares with each other. There seemed to be an understanding between the two; 'get in my way and you will get knocked back.'

Hinata's heart was starting to beat even quicker than before as one though ran through her mind.

'_Please Kami-sama, please let me be in Naruto-kun's team… please…'_ Hinata thought as her now clenched hands started to tighten and her palms started to pale by the lack of blood in her hands. The same thoughts were going through Sasuke's fangirls… well, more or less.

"… Hinata Hyuga…" Hinata's eye widened as Inuyasha said her name. "You're wanted at the main office for something, I don't know what." Inuyasha continued as a chunin left after giving him a note. Hinata's whole world came crashing down, her hopes shattered and broken by her feet. She stood up and walked to the back door of the class with her bangs covering her eyes to hide her disappointment. "Wait before you go, you need to know that you're also on team 7." Inuyasha ended with a smirk.

He knew he was evil for messing with the girl's feelings for his little brother but he couldn't resist. But after seeing her broken form stand and walk to the back door, he started to think he went a bit too far. Luckily, she wasn't in a hurry to leave the classroom. Everyone in the room but Iruka, Inuyasha and Sasuke were shocked. Hinata was staring at Inuyasha in disbelief and hope.

"Aniki, you better not be playing because I'll kill you if you are!" Naruto roared as he saw Inuyasha raise his hands in defense.

"If you don't believe me then come read the list yourself." Naruto stood and walked down the steps, ignoring the stares from his classmates. Grabbing the clipboard that held the list, Naruto murmured as he skipped the first six teams. After finding his team, a smile broke out on his face. "See? Now go sit down!" Inuyasha said as he snatched the clipboard from Naruto and hit him on the head with it. Naruto flinched as he rubbed the injured area and walked up the steps.

As he reached Shikamaru's desk, he smiled at him.

"Good luck with your team Shikamaru… you're going to need it." Naruto said and Shikamaru groaned; getting what Naruto meant.

"What is it Shikamaru?" Choji asked, out of the loop.

"I'm going to have a troublesome team." He said and Choji nodded.

"Go Hinata-chan, I'm sure they're waiting for you at the main office." Naruto said with a forced smile. Hinata frowned a bit; it wasn't a fake smile since he was excited about being on the same team as her but it was forced; it seemed that he was still thinking about what Kazoku said. Nodding, Hinata left the room and walked down the hall.

"When Hinata gets back, tell her your team's jonin sensei is going to… damn it not that guy." Inuyasha said after getting a good look at Naruto's sensei. "Kakashi Hatake." Naruto and Inuyasha simultaneously groaned; it had to be that pervert.

[*.*.*.*]

Hinata walked back to class with a note wrinkled up in her hand; he had done it again. Tightening her fist, Hinata further crumpled up the already wrinkled paper. Her father just didn't understand; she didn't like fighting Hanabi and would never feel right hurting her even if it is just a spar. The note was from her father delivered by one of the branch members.

_Hanabi_

_Spar_

_Elders_

_Test_

These were only a couple of the words scribbled neatly on the note. Finding the nearest trash bin, Hinata threw away the note and continued on her trek to her classroom. Coming to the door, Hinata stopped a few feet away when the door opened and Naruto solemnly walked out of the classroom. She had caught his look and frowned again; he was thinking about it once again. Walking in front of him, Hinata put on her best, real smile.

With his head down, Naruto hadn't seen Hinata standing in front of him until her blue, open toed sandals appeared in his sights. His eyes traveled up and were met with Hinata's warm smile and closed eyes.

"Oh, hey Hinata-chan, so what did they need you for in the main office?" Naruto asked innocently, hoping to distract himself from his bothering thoughts. Hinata's smile faltered a bit as she opened her eyes.

"Just t-to give me a n-note… that's all." Hinata answered, her smile a bit more forced than before. Naruto became aware of this and saw some sadness in her eyes. He wanted to ask what was wrong but she looked behind him to see other students leaving the classroom.

"W-What's going on?" She asked. Naruto looked behind him and saw everyone leaving.

"Oh, after the teams were assigned, we were dismissed to go to lunch. Did you bring lunch or do you want to go to Ichiraku's?" Naruto asked and before Hinata was able to answer, Choji came from behind Naruto and placed an arm on Naruto's shoulder as Shikamaru appeared on the other side.

"Your treat?" He asked with a lick of his lips. Naruto sweat dropped; in his mind, there was no way in hell he was paying if he AND Choji went to go to Ichiraku's.

"Nah, I'm paying." Inuyasha said as he walked up to the group. "Let's go already, I'm starving." Inuyasha said. Choji and Shikamaru started to walk out of the academy with Hinata, Inuyasha and Naruto walking slightly behind them. Naruto still had a sober aura around him and he locked Naruto in a head lock.

"Hey!"

"Cheer up brat; you know it's not your fault." Inuyasha said quickly before Naruto was able to say anything else. That shut up Naruto quick and he looked down.

"Do I? It doesn't feel like it." He retorted and Hinata frowned again.

"But it's true Naruto-kun. You're not the Kyuubi, you didn't destroy half the village or kill everyone in sight. You're Naruto-kun, nice and friendly Naruto-kun." Hinata said with a sympathetic smile. He looked at her and shook his head.

"Don't act so troublesome; we all know you're anything but the Kyuubi. Annoying, loud, random maybe, but not murderous, angry and spiteful." Shikamaru said with a bored tone as he rubbed the back of his neck. Choji nodded as he smiled at him. Naruto would've replied to that as well but Inuyasha's applied more pressure on the hold to get his attention.

"Just shut up and get over it already; you didn't do it and if you talk about it again, I'll make sure you forget it… one way or another." Inuyasha threatened as he released Naruto from the headlock. Naruto rubbed his neck and smiled; glad to have friends and a brother like them. After arriving to Ichiraku's, everyone ordered their ramen and waited for it to arrive. As they waited, they started talking about how they thought their teams would be like and for Shikamaru, how to effectively block out the shriek of their blond banshee.

"Well, I gotta go, I still have something, or well, someone to get and it might be a while before I find him. See ya!" Inuyasha said putting money on the counter and walking out of the food stand. Naruto looked at the money and chuckled.

"And I thought he was going to walk out on the bill. So what do we do now?" Naruto asked and everyone was silent, not really having anything in mind. "Aw come on, someone has to have some sort of an idea." Naruto whined.

"A-Ano…"

"Hmm?"

"W-Why don't we t-try to find Sasuke and t-try to talk to him? S-Since he's on our t-team." Hinata suggested. Naruto groaned and looked at Shikamaru and Choji, asking for their input.

"As troublesome as it sounds, she's right; we should find our other teammates and at least try to be friends with them. Well, at least try not to kill each other." Shikamaru said as he stood and walked away with Choji walking beside him. Naruto stood after he saw Hinata stand and they started to walk in a random direction. Who knew where chicken butt was at the moment?

[*.*.*.*]

Sasuke sat on the window sill of an empty room while eating his first onigiri. While ate, his mind had wandered to what happened before in the academy.

'_Naruto…'_ Naruto was similar to him; special and treated differently because of his origin or looks. Of course, the different treatment between the two was… different but nonetheless, they were basically one in the same. They were both strong because of their heritage. Both knew what it felt like to be alone at some point in their lives.

Even with this revelation however, Sasuke was not going to give Naruto any special treatment. He respected the hanyō for his skills but aside from that, he knew nothing of the blond kid and saw him as nothing but a comrade, a teammate.

Speaking of which, his other teammate, Hinata Hyuga… why would they pair a Hyuga with an Uchiha? They were natural rivals, especially when the entire Uchiha clan was still alive. So why now?

Groaning, Sasuke realized that he forgot the rest of his lunch back at his apartment and jumped down from the window and began to head back to get it. Getting to his apartment quickly and getting his thermos full of red bean soup, Sasuke walked back to where he was eating lunch and his mind wandered again. However, before he was able to give his thoughts his complete attention, a loud shrill yell was heard and he flinched.

"Sasuke-kun!" Staying still, hoping that he hadn't been spotted, he let out a disappointed sigh as Sakura glomped his right arm.

"What is it Sakura?" Sasuke asked, his voice dripping with annoyance.

"Well since we're not on the same team, why don't we have lunch one last time?" Sakura suggested with a flirtatious smile.

"No, I'm a little busy at the moment." Which wasn't a complete lie; he was human and had the right to eat, right?

"Come on Sasuke-kun, I thought that since you have someone as annoying as Naruto on your team, you'd like to spend the last moments of freedom with a normal person." Sakura continued.

'_And you think you're that normal person?'_ Sasuke thought with a sweat drop.

"I mean, all he ever does is cause fights with you and because he's the Kyuubi, that means he never had any parents." Sasuke's eyes twitched before they narrowed. "Without parents, he does whatever he wants. I know if I did half the things he did, then my parents would ground me for life. I guess in a way, he's lucky he doesn't have any parents to tell him what's wrong and right. But that is why he gets in trouble all the ti-"

"You're ignorant." Sasuke said, earning a gasp of surprise from Sakura.

"W-What?"

"He is not the Kyuubi, the Kyuubi was a giant chakra beast that could cause natural disasters with a flick of its tails. Even if Naruto is a walking disaster, he is not the Kyuubi. Even then, you have no idea the kind of loneliness he has gone through." The Uchiha continued, shocking Sakura with each passing word. "Just because he had no parents around to scold him doesn't mean he's annoying…"

"What are you trying to say Sasuke-ku-"

"Sakura… you're annoying." Sasuke stated as he freed his right arm from Sakura's grip and headed back to the empty room his was eating in. Sakura stayed in her place, Sasuke's words registering in her mind. With a slump of her shoulders, she knew Sasuke was right… about everything.

[*.*.*.*]

Naruto grumbled under his breath as he saw Team 8 walk out with their sensei who he knew as Kurenai. Naruto noticed that Sakura was acting different; instead of giving a heartfelt goodbye to Sasuke, all she did was say goodbye to the glooming emo, before walking up to Naruto, saying goodbye to him as well, and apologizing. For what, Naruto had no idea but he could only guess it had to do with the Kyuubi.

At the moment, Naruto was glaring at the Uchiha suspiciously; what was his deal? The impression he got from him during lunch was… for lack of a better term, un-Sasuke like.

_Hinata and Naruto walked through the forest that led to the shopping district to find Sasuke. They had been searching for him for about ten minutes and still they hadn't found him. Naruto's nose twitched slightly as Sasuke's scent became stronger. Looking up, he smirked and saw Sasuke eating in an empty room on the third floor of a building. Nudging Hinata and showing her where he was, they jumped on the roof of the nearest building and continued upward until they were right outside the window of the room Sasuke was in._

"_Yo Sasuke!" Naruto greeted and Sasuke started to choke on the onigiri he was eating. After struggling for a few seconds, Sasuke was able to spit out his food and reached for some water he had. He glared at Naruto while he scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Heh-Heh, sorry about that, didn't know you'd choke on it." Naruto joked** _

"_What do you two want?" Sasuke asked while composing himself._

"_W-We came to spend lunch t-together… a-as a team." Hinata answered and Naruto nodded with a defeated look. His still blood stained orange shirt reeked of dry blood and it was really driving him crazy and trying to make peace with his rival was not helping. He just knew he was going to say 'get lost' or 'why would I hang around with losers like you two' or…_

"_Ok." Naruto was snapped out of his mental rant to stare at chicken but- er Sasuke incredulous. Did he just say 'ok'? Ok to what?_

"_What?" Naruto asked, wanting to make sure he heard right. _

"_I said ok; since we're a team, it won't do if we're always fighting." Sasuke said with an uncaring tone. Naruto was still looking at Sasuke; what was going on?_

There was something suspicious about Sasuke's sudden change in attitude and Naruto wanted to know what caused it. After half an hour later and still no Jonin sensei, Naruto groaned loudly; where the hell was the perverted scarecrow? He knew he was always late but… half an hour late?! Naruto smirked as he got an idea. Hinata, who was sitting beside the blond hanyō, didn't like the look he had on his face; it screamed 'prank.'

"N-Naruto-kun, what are y-you up to?" She asked and he shook his head.

"You'll see." However, before she had a chance to see, the sounds of two footsteps were heard out in the hall before a muffled argument began. Suddenly, everything was quiet… then, it happened.

Bursting through the door was what looked like a black and green ram that flew into the room and landed on the other side of the room. Walking in was Inuyasha while he dusted his hands. He looked at the only team in the room and smirked.

"Here's you Jonin instructor," Inuyasha said and pointed to the black and green 'ram' who was really an unconscious Kakashi Hatake. His only visible eye had a swirl as he mumbled incoherently. "And I'm… *sigh* his assistant." Inuyasha finished, shocking Team 7 to its core… assistant?!

"Ne, aniki, what's up with that?!" Naruto asked and Inuyasha glared at him.

"I don't know, talk to the old man about it, I wasn't the one who arranged the thing. Besides, what's wrong with me being your second Jonin instructor?" He asked and Naruto looked at the ground with a pout.

"I get enough of you as it is." He muttered and an angry tick mark appeared on Inuyasha's head.

"At any rate, meet us at the memorial stone in exactly ten minutes." Kakashi said as he stood up, acting as if he hadn't crashed into the room a minute ago. Inuyasha smirked as Kakashi put a hand on his shoulder and they both disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Naruto and Sasuke sighed while Hinata looked at both of them. With a shrug, they walked out of the academy and headed for the memorial stone, wondering why their sensei chose that place.

"So… were you serious back there Sasuke?" Naruto asked as he made eye contact with said boy.

"What are you talking about?" He asked.

"What you said during lunch, you know." Sasuke nodded his head when he realized what Naruto was saying.

"Don't get me wrong dobe, you're still not better than me but it wouldn't be smart to always be fighting." Sasuke said before turning serious. "But I won't let you get in my way. You drag this team behind and I won't let you hear the end of it." Naruto looked at him surprised for a second before smirking.

"Same goes for you teme." Naruto said and all conversation between the two ended. Hinata was walking behind the two when they had their talk and Sasuke's words stung her. Would she drag her team behind? Was she really only a burden to everyone just like the clan elders told her? She didn't want to be the reason why their team was weak; she didn't want to drag Sasuke and especially Naruto down to her level. Was she really cut out to be a kunoichi, to fight side by side with someone as strong as Naruto?

"Oi Hinata-chan!" Hinata snapped out of her thoughts and looked up to see Naruto smiling at her. "Cheer up, we're finally genin and are in a team! There's no reason to be sad!" Naruto said with a fox like smile. It seemed to be contagious because Hinata smiled and nodded. Seeing the memorial stone ahead and their two sensei already there, the three genin walked up to them and waited for them to say something.

"I see all of you made it, good." Kakashi said as he eye smiled. "Now we can begin with the introductions."

"Introductions?" Hinata asked and Kakashi nodded.

"You go first Kakashi seeing as they don't get it." Inuyasha said as he leaned on the pole near him.

"Hmm… how about you field this one?" Kakashi asked while Inuyasha glared at the Cyclops. "Or I could… ok, let's see my name is Kakashi Hatake. Things I like and things I hate... I don't feel like telling you that. My dreams for the future... never really thought about it. As for my hobbies...I have lots of hobbies." Kakashi said with an eye smile while everyone sweat dropped.

"All we really know is his name." Naruto commented and his teammates nodded. Inuyasha appeared behind Kakashi and punched his head.

"You lazy scarecrow, you're not doing it right!" Inuyasha shouted as Kakashi crouched down and held his head.

"Looks like I don't have the hang of it either. Show it to us then." Kakashi said and Inuyasha growled before folding his arms over his chest.

"Hn, fine. The name's Inuyasha, no last name. I like ramen, fighting and torturing that poor, unfortunate soul." Inuyasha said pointing at a deadpan Naruto. "I hate how prejudice this village is and a majority of the civilians. I also hate you Hatake." Kakashi eye smiled as he stood up.

"Aw, you don't mean that."

"Sure, believe whatever you want to believe. My hobbies are eating ramen, completing missions and torturing that poor, unfortunate soul." Naruto face palmed while Sasuke smirked; he was starting to like Inuyasha. "My dream… well, it's nothing important." Inuyasha said and Naruto nodded, knowing what his dream was. "Now do it right this time Hatake."

"Fine… my name's Kakashi Hatake. I like salt-broiled saury and miso soup with eggplant. I don't particularly hate anything except for foods that are fried or sweet. Oh and I hate it when people try to take a picture of me with my mask off. My hobby is reading a certain series made by the Yondaime's sensei. My dream, well more of a wish, is to fight my sensei that passed away thirteen years ago." Kakashi was then surrounded by a solemn aura and looked down at the ground. It wasn't long before he pepped up and pointed at Hinata.

"You, you go next." Hinata flinched and then poked her two index fingers together when everyone's attention was on her.

"Oh? O-Oh ok. M-My name is Hinata Hyuga. I like h-hanging around N-Naruto-kun and his a-aniki." Inuyasha smirked, glad that he was mentioned. "I l-like to eat zenzai and cin-cinnamon rolls. I don't l-like it when p-people are bullied or are h-hated for something they c-could not control. M-My hobby is p-pressing flowers and making m-medical herbs. My d-dream…" She paused as her face became scarlet. "I-Is to surpass my f-father, help my clan and… and marry N… get married a-and have a nice f-family." Hinata stuttered, mentally scolding herself for almost saying that she wanted to marry Naruto. She fidgeted in her place as everyone smirked at her, knowing what she wanted to say; everyone except the blond idiot himself.

"That's a nice dream Hinata." Kakashi teased, making her wish she was somewhere else. "You, the one with the gloomy face, you're up next." Sasuke scowled at Kakashi.

"My name's Sasuke Uchiha. I don't like a lot of things and hate more things than I can count. My hobbies are training and taking walks around the village when I need to think. What I have is not a dream but an ambition and that is to restore my clan and kill a certain someone." Everyone was staring at Sasuke as his face retained its scowl. Inuyasha couldn't help but smirk; he kind of liked the kid.

'_Just as I thought…'_

'_I heard of what happened; I'm not surprised his so angry. I know the feeling of hating your older brother.'_

'_What's wrong with him? What's he so mad about?'_

'_Father told me what happened… poor Sasuke.'_

"Your turn blondie." Kakashi said with a bored expression.

"Yosh! My name is Naruto Uzumaki. I like ramen, hanging out with Hinata-chan, Shikamaru and Choji and messing with aniki. I hate the three minute wait for the ramen to cook and prejudice people and my dream…" Naruto smirked as he pointed his right thumb at him. "No, my goal in life is to become Hokage, so people will stop hating me and treat me with respect!" Inuyasha chuckled and Hinata smiled at him. Both Kakashi and Sasuke appeared neutral but were both somewhat happy to hear that.

"Ok, now that we're done with that, you can all go home. Tomorrow, we'll start our duties as shinobi of the Hidden Leaf." Kakashi said.

"And what duties is that?" Naruto asked in a cheerful tone.

"Something between the four of us, Inuyasha won't be joining us, he'll just watch."

"Hmm, what are the four of us going to do?" Sasuke asked.

"Survival training." Team 7 looked at Kakashi oddly.

"S-Survival…"

"Training?" Naruto finished for Hinata. "We had enough training at the academy." Naruto said, waving off the training. Inuyasha smirked evilly and this made Team 7 become unease.

"This isn't some academy training. This time, I'm your opponent." Kakashi answered with a yawn.

"So, what kind of training is it?" Sasuke asked and Kakashi chuckled. "Hmm?"

"The training doesn't matter but… well; I'll let Inuyasha answer this one." Kakashi said and Inuyasha pushed his back off the pole and walked in front of the genins.

"Of the twenty seven of you brats that just graduated, only nine of you will stay as genin. The rest… well, they'll go back to the academy." Team 7's eyes widened at this.

"That means that this training is extremely difficult with a failure rate of sixty six percent." Kakashi finished and chuckled when he saw his genin in a state of shock and/or fear. "I warned you. Oh and you might want to skip breakfast… or you'll puke." Kakashi said the last part so seriously that everyone flinched except for Inuyasha. "Everything else you need to know is on this paper." Kakashi handed out a piece a paper to each genin and waved goodbye.

"Good Luck."

[*.*.*.*]

Inuyasha woke up the next morning after falling off the couch… for the second time in the last two hours. He growled as he stood; no matter how comfortable the couch was, it was still not as good as sleeping on a bed or even on a tree. Stretching out the sleep in his body, Inuyasha walked to the bathroom to relieve himself. After finishing his usual morning rituals, Inuyasha walked into the kitchen, took out an instant ramen and prepared the hot water.

As he waited for the water to boil, he thought about how Naruto would do in the Survival Training Kakashi had set up. He knew the point of the training and what was supposed to happen for them to pass but, he sort of doubted that Naruto would be able to get the main point of it in time. After the water started to boil, Inuyasha poured it in the cup and waited for the ramen to cook. Deciding to leave already, Inuyasha took the ramen cup and walked out of the apartment.

While he was wandering around the village, Inyasha couldn't help but let his mind roam to his brother and his team. He was glad that Hinata was on the team since she would probably help the hot head cool down. The Uchiha, well, he was just an interesting character, that's all. Maybe they would pass Kakashi's test, just maybe.

Inuyasha stopped in his tracks at the scent that he caught in a breeze; blood, dry blood. Running in the direction of where the scent was coming from, Inuyasha passed the east gates of the village and saw, not too far away, what he guessed was a person under a black cloak. Dropping his ramen, Inuyasha closed the gap between the two and turned over the person in the cloak. What he saw shocked him.

The person was a young woman, probably no older than fifteen. She had fair skin and was beautiful, even if she had a bit of blood smeared on her left cheek. Her eyes were closed and her dark blue bangs were just over her eyes. Feeling something warm hold her caused the young woman to slowly flutter her eyes open and look at Inuyasha. Inuyasha held in his shock as her tired brown eyes stared into his.

"H-Help… me." She said, her voice a little hoarse and forced. She then closed her eyes and became limp again.

"K-K…" Inuyasha stuttered and searched his entire being for his voice. "K-Kikyo?"

Silence was all that replied…

**

* * *

**

**HOLY CRAP! I'M SO FUCKING HAPPY!!!**

**Ok, here's a small story for some of you... Today, while writing this chapter, a thought occurred to me... 'I have a project due tomorrow'....**

**To say the least, I panicked... I was spray painting things... procrastinating... cutting things... procrastinating... tracing... looking up things... procrastinating... procrastinating... typing things down and writing things down... procrastinating... procrastinating... procrastinating... procrastinating... and I'm pretty sure procrastinating somewhere in there... **

**So anyways, after finishing this chapter while simultaneous doing my project, I decided to listen to some music... Coincidently or not, it was a christian rock song called "There will be a day" by Jeremy Camp [Who is a really good christian rocker for anyone who likes rock, christian rock or any combo of the two.]... I smiled and continued working, with my lord and savior on my mind while I worked... Soon enough, my parents wanted me to sleep and I still didn't finish my project... Just when I was about to give up, my sister comes to me with a devious smile and tells me school is cancelled tomorrow...**

**THANK GOD FOR SPONTANEOUS SCHOOL CLOSINGS...**

**I was so happy that I didn't have to hurry and rush through my project that I told every freaking person I know and they all cheered along with me... I am so thankful to god right now I feel like I'm neck deep in debt... Which is a lie since I owe so much to god that I don't think it's possible to pay him back... In my mind, the best I can do is better myself and follow the bible as the guide that it is...**

**Heh heh, sorry for going religious on everyone, I am just so happy...**

**Oh and Hidden Rose sends her regards, she caught the flu [or something similar to it... let's ust say she's sick ok?] after she play in the snow... I warned her that the snow melts and gets her jacket, glove and pants wet but she didn't want to listen... Anyways, after visiting her, she told me that she wanted me to mention to everyone to never play in the snow without the proper equipment...........**

**Yeah, I thought the same too... 'Seriously? We already knew that'.... Haha but still, she says hi and I'm currently being forced to help her as best I can... Long story short, she really likes hot ramen... And no its not because she watches Naruto... Me and her loved ramen way before Naruto even came on and invaded our lives...**

**** If you saw the astericks, that is reference to my say "Deal with it, Get over it or Choke on it..." Get it? Cuz Sasuke was choking on his onigiri and Naruto said "Heh-Heh, sorry about that, didn't know you'd choke on it."....**

**Heh heh sorry but that was actually an accident and I didn't catch it until before I sent it to my BETA... Again, awesome dude! **

**If some of you are wondering why I arranged the teams like I did, here are some reasons:**

**1] Sasuke is the top of the class, Hinata is the top of the class[in place of Sakura from cannon for the females] and Naruto was, like in the anime/manga, dead last... If you wonder why, I did mention in this story that his test grades were, to put it lightly, pitiful... The obstacle course and more spars and target practice wasn't enforced until at least three months prior to the graduation exams, give or take... By that time, the damage was done... And for a bonus, I wanted her to make that small slip up of wanting to marry Naruto... Haha funny Naruhina moment...**

**2] Why is Inuyasha their secondary sensei? The only information I'm going to release at this time is that the Third thought it would be a good idea that Inuyasha see how a real jonin sensei handles his kids [since Hiruzen had seen through Naruto how cruel Inuyasha is to kids...].... There is another reason but that will be said at a later time...**

**Moving on... damn, Kikyo? Is she really back?! Where did she come from?! Is this like canon and she died, brought back to life by a crazy witch or is she fanon and Inuyasha's long lost lover?! Damn, I bet it's killing everyone on the inside huh? Fortunately for me, I know better...**

**Next Chapter: Pass or Fail, Who are you mysterious girl?**

**Good luck with whatever and if you got a problem with me or one of my stories, please feel free to: Deal with it, Get over it or Choke on it...**


	11. Pass or Fail, Who are you mysterious gir

**Yo, what's up?!**

**I know it's been a while but AP is still a pain... Wish I never took it...**

**Uhm, I got nothing to mention except that Hidden Rose is feeling better but is still home... **

***WARNING!* ****My BETA's been pretty busy so he didn't re-read this so... yeah, sorry heheh...**

**Enjoy the chapter!**

**_"Without mysteries, life would be very dull indeed. What would be left to strive for if everything were known?"  
*Charles de Lint*_**

**Chapter 11: Pass or Fail, Who are you mysterious girl?**

**I don't own anything about Naruto or Inuyasha except for this plot...**

* * *

Naruto walked down the street with his eyes closed and a loud yawn escaping his mouth. It was six thirty in the morning and he was only awake because his annoying aniki had unintentionally woke him up after falling off the couch for the second time. He wished he knew a silence jutsu or something so he could silence his aniki.

Stretching his still sleeping arms, Naruto walked by Ichiraku's but didn't stop. He didn't want to puke out perfectly good ramen and he was sure it'd take a strong will not to re-consume the upchucked ramen. Shuttering at the idea, Naruto continued walking as he placed his hands behind his head. His mind started to drift to his team's meeting the other day.

"Wonder what kind of survival training it's going to be?" Naruto asked no one in particular. He then scowled as his tail swung from side to side. "Knowing the pervert, it's probably something like stealing all the copies of the Icha Icha series and not get killed by the store clerk. Hmm, been there, done that, moved on." Naruto ranted in a bored yet slightly amused tone.

Since he had enough time to spare, Naruto decided to walk through the bridge near the memorial stone to get some of nature into his systems. He would probably never admit it out loud but Naruto probably loved nature so much because of his demon side. Even if Kyuubi was a chakra beast, he was still a fox. An over powered fox but still a fox nonetheless; one that loved the stillness yet unpredictability of nature.

Watching the animals that lived in the forest inside Konoha perform their individual morning rituals, Naruto let out a content sigh. So peaceful, so calm… such a calming feeling, such… such a beautiful voice. Naruto's golden fox ears were twitching madly in the direction where he heard such a harmonic and angelic voice singing a song he hadn't heard before. From the sound of the voice, Naruto could tell it was a girl and… and she was sad.

_Sometimes I'm a selfish fake…_

_You're always a true friend…_

_I don't deserve you…_

_Cause I'm not there for you…_

_Oh, I wish I would be…_

Naruto followed the sound of the singing voice, almost walking in a trance. Whoever this girl was, it was obvious that she was hurt. Not physically, no, worse than physically… emotionally.

_I wanna be there for you…_

_And be someone you can come to…_

He heard the girl's voice become louder as his pace quickened through the forest. The voice was sad and broken, almost as if while she sang, her heart was breaking at a painful and unhurried pace. He passed by many clearings; some training grounds, some desolate fields.

_Swirling shades of blue…_

_Slow dancing in your sky…_

_The sun kisses the earth…_

_And I hush my urge to cry…_

_Cause I hear the whispered words…_

_Within your masterpiece, beautiful…_

_You speak the unspeakable phrase…_

_I love you too…_

Finally finding the clearing he was looking for, Naruto noticed that it was still too dark to notice exactly who was singing the song with the angelic tone. What he did see was the silhouette of the girl responsible for singing the song. From her height, Naruto would guess the girl was around his age, give or take a few months. Another thing he noticed was that she had short hair; dark hair at that. Blushing at her development, Naruto wondered who this girl was.

She was sitting on a small boulder, with her arms in her chest and her head hung low. If it were anyone else, they would've thought she was just sulking and from the lyrics of the song, had just broken up with her boyfriend. Naruto, however, with his sharp eye sight, saw that and a small, glinting tear drop fall from the girl's eyes. He sniffed the air to see if he could identify her through her scent but after taking in her scent his eyes widened.

_I wanna be there for you …_

_And be someone you can come to…_

He walked a bit closer to the girl with precaution and care before accidently stepping on a puddle of water. Naruto cursed in his mind for not being more aware of his surroundings. Ignoring the wet feeling in his right leg, Naruto continued forward and stopped at the last tree that ended the forest and began the clearing.

_The love runs deeper than my bones…_

_And you…_

_Are beautiful, don't you know…_

The girl took in a shaky breath as she hugged herself, her shoulder shaking a bit.

"I'm so weak…" The girl mumbled but Naruto was able to catch it. The girl's voice… it sounded familiar. Question now was: why was it so familiar? The girl stood up and walked to the opposite end of the clearing. Naruto walked out of his hiding place and watched the girl go; only catching a glimpse of what she looked like.

Because the sun was just barely rising, there was a small amount of light but there had been enough for him to tell that she had creamy skin and wore a thin, dark brown jacket that seemed to hug her upper torso, causing more blood to rush to Naruto's cheeks.

Unknowingly, Naruto had walked up to the boulder the girl was sitting on no more than a few minutes ago. He turned his head and saw the wet marks on the boulder, two or three small dots; right where the girl's tears fell. The scent now stronger, Naruto picked up a lavender scent, just as he thought. However it wasn't just lavender, it was also accompanied by a stronger scent of vanilla and lilacs.

Naruto scratched the back of his head with his right hand while he racked his brain to figure out who the girl was. From all the girls he knew, which had creamy skin, smelled like lavender and had short, dark hair? Naruto turned his head sharply at the direction where the girl left; didn't Hinata smell like lavenders? But, she never carried the scent of vanilla and lilacs, not from what he can remember.

He shook his head as he decided to go back to the village and wait for his team's survival training to start. There, he would ask Hinata where she was earlier. If she did end up being the girl who was just there, he would ask why she was sad and he wouldn't stop until he got his answer.

**[*.*.*.*]**

Inuyasha sat right in the waiting room of the hospital with a scowl on his face. He hated hospitals; the stench of death and illnesses were never completely washed away, no matter how much lemon scented cleaning liquids they used. He closed his eyes and subconsciously growled; what was he doing here anyways? He had spent a good hour waiting in the hospital and in another half hour or so, his team's survival training would begin. Besides, what were the odds of him running into _her _again?

"Sir…" Inuyasha opened his left eye and looked up to see a nurse with a writing pad and pen in her hands. Inuyasha frowned as the nurse chewed her gum with her mouth opening with each chew; disgusting. "Why are you still here?" She asked. A vein threatened to explode from his brow.

"Because I want to make sure the girl I brought here is ok. What, is it a crime for me to wait for her to heal?" He asked, getting a _little_ impatient with the nurse.

"No, I was only wondering." She then walked away but before she went too far, she turned and smiled at Inuyasha. "By the way, she's awake." She said before disappearing in an intersecting hall. Inuyasha growled as he stood and mumbled about incompetent nurses and their stupid gums. As he found the room where he knew Kikyo was in, he took in a deep breath and opened the door to see Kikyo looking into space while twirling her hair with her right index finger. Inuyasha walked up to the right side of the room and sat down on the chair besides her bed. She still seemed distracted until Inuyasha coughed in his hands and she looked at him.

As amber eyes stared into brown eyes intently and vice-versa, Inuyasha felt his heart beat quicken and his breathing become shallow. He felt his spine shiver a bit as she seemed to be staring into his soul.

"You're a hanyō." She stated, knocking Inuyasha out from his thoughts.

"Huh? Oh, well yeah, didn't you know that?" He asked and she shook her head and raised an eye brow in suspicion.

"Should I?" She asked and Inuyasha's eyes widened a bit. Was this Kikyo or did she lose her memories? Great, how the hell was he going to revive her memories?

"I'm Inuyasha, don't you remember me Kikyo?" Inuyasha asked, thinking he lost Kikyo; that is until who he thought was Kikyo started to laugh.

"You're delusional… ano, Inuyasha, right? Still, my name isn't Kikyo, it is Kagome, Kagome Higurashi." Kagome said and Inuyasha stared at her warily. Kagome felt a blush reach her face as she saw his eyes wander. "H-Hey, what are you l-looking at?" She asked angrily, snapping Inuyasha out of his observations.

"It's just that… you just remind me of someone, that's all." Inuyasha stated as he leaned back into his chair with a sigh. "So, why were you almost dead right outside this village?" Inuyasha asked nonchalantly, almost as if he was asking for the time.

"Thanks for the concern." She said deadpanned, slightly glaring at Inuyasha who had his eyes closed and his arms over his head. "If you must know, I was running away." She said and this caught Inuyasha's interest.

"Running away? Hn, you're an idiot." He commented and a vein appeared on Kagome's head.

"Who are you calling an idiot?" She screeched and Inuyasha smirked.

"The only idiot in the room." He answered with a chuckle before looking at her seriously, spooking her a bit. "There are tons of rogue shinobi and demons running around here. You were lucky a demon didn't find you or even worse, a rogue shinobi." Inuyasha said.

"Why would a rogue shinobi be worse than a demon, wouldn't the demon kill me?" She asked and Inuyasha nodded.

"Yeah but… I would guess it gets lonely being on the road all the time if you get what I'm saying." He said and Kagome nodded, definitely getting what he said. She looked down at her hands and started to play with them all the while having a contemplative look on her face. "Look, I didn't mean to sound like some overprotective father but you need to be careful." He said in a soft tone. He then blinked repeatedly as he stared into space; where did the sympathy come from?

Kagome looked up at him with disbelieving eyes before smiling and giggling at his facial expression.

"Thank you." She said warmly and Inuyasha felt his heart quicken its pace and blood rush to his cheeks. He looked away and muttered something under his breath. Kagome didn't catch it but smiled nonetheless. After silence fell over them, Inuyasha looked back at her while she still stared at him. Their eyes only connected for a second before they looked away.

"So, uh… what were you running from anyway?" Inuyasha asked while scratching his left cheek and Kagome tried to remove the blush on her face.

"I just… needed to get away from the pressure back home. Their expectations were just too high for me to keep up with." She answered and Inuyasha knew she was lying; not a lot but there was something she didn't want to tell him. He wasn't really expecting her to answer him in the first place so any answer would do. "Thank you." She said again.

"Hmm? For what; saving you? Don't worry about it." Inuyasha said waving it off. Kagome shifted on her hospital bed before she flinched and let out a painful hiss. "What's wrong?" Inuyasha asked as he moved his chair closer to Kagome's bed. She closed her left eye from the pain as she left her right arm. It was then Inuyasha noticed that every body part the hospital gown didn't covered was actually covered by gauze. Everything was covered but her face which had a few bandages on her cheeks. The pain slowly melted away and Kagome smiled weakly at Inuyasha.

"I-I'm ok, just moved the wrong way." She answered, trying to ease her pain and Inuyasha. Kagome smiled to try to assure him before looking out the window in thought. It wasn't long before she looked back at him and he was blushing while engrossed in his own thoughts. "Ano, where am I?" Kagome asked and Inuyasha was brought out of his thoughts.

"You're in Konohagakure no Sato." Inuyasha answered as he looked around the room, looking for something. He found what he was looking for and stood from his seat. "Well, as much fun as this is, I gotta get going." He walked over to the door and was about to leave but Kagome spoke up.

"Wait!" Inuyasha stopped in mid stride and looked back at her with a comical and quizzical look. Kagome blushed a bit as she started to play with her finger nails. "I was kind of wondering… since I'm new here and you seem nice and all… that you can show me around." Kagome said under her breath but Inuyasha heard her. He hesitated to answer; it wasn't that he didn't want to but just that he had something to do already. Sighing, Inuyasha nodded his head and went back to his seat next to her bed.

"Fine but only because you don't know anyone else to do this. Hn, you're lucky I'm feeling pretty generous today." Inuyasha stated with a smug look. Kagome sweat dropped with a nervous chuckle. Then she noticed the necklace around Inuyasha neck. She blinked repetitively before smirking devilishly. "So, how much longer are you in here for?" Inuyasha asked and Kagome pushed her thoughts on his necklace to a side.

"I can go now since I only had minor cuts and was dehydrated. Can you pass me my cloak?" She asked and Inuyasha nodded. He stood and walked to the other side where her cloak was and threw it to her. Kagome caught it and started to put it over her hospital gown. She got out of the bed and brushed out the wrinkles in her cloak before smiling at Inuyasha. Inuyasha smiled and opened the window. "Uhm, where are you going?" Kagome asked.

"Leaving this place; it smells horrible and the sooner we leave the better." Inuyasha said as he climbed up the window.

"Wait 'we'?" She asked and Inuyasha nodded and looked at her as if she was stupid. "Uh-uh, I'm not going through the window." Kagome said and before she could say anything else, Inuyasha wrapped his arm around her waist and they jumped out of the window. She screamed in fear as her vision became tunneled and saw the ground rushing in pretty quickly. She closed her eyes and then felt Inuyasha's arm tightened and suddenly they both stopped.

"Why are you scared?" Inuyasha asked as he let Kagome go. She opened her eyes and blinked before settling on a glare. She turned her sights on Inuyasha and growled. Inuyasha flinched and backed away.

"You jerk; I thought we were going to die!" She yelled moving closer to Inuyasha who was taking a couple of steps back before he fell back on a bench that was coincidently there. "That was one of the most horrible things I have ever experienced!" She roared and Inuyasha shrank in his seat. "SIT BOY!"

"Wha-" Immediately, Inuyasha fell face forward onto the floor while his upper and lower body hung in the air. He groaned as Kagome stomped away while murmuring under her breath of horrible hanyōs and the mistake she made. It took him a while but after Inuyasha composed himself, he growled and followed after Kagome.

Who the hell did this girl think she was… and how did she know of the rosary's command phrase?

**[*.*.*.*]**

Naruto sighed as he tried to find something to do; waiting for Kakashi usually did that to him or anyone who was waiting for him. Naruto knew he should probably be with his other teammates who were probably waiting for Kakashi near the memorial stone but he was still trying to piece together the exact words he wanted to use. It still bothered him to think someone as sweet and nice and pretty and…

"…" Naruto stopped walking, _'Pretty? Where the hell did that come from? Hinata-chan's not pretty… is she?'_ Naruto thought as he walked down the street, ignoring the sneering and scowled looks from the villagers. He knew he could always wear the genjutsu when out on the village but since his aniki wasn't hiding himself to the village, then neither would he.

"_Pretty?"_ Naruto mumbled quietly as he reached the Konoha shopping district. Suddenly he stopped and smelled a familiar scent around. "Aniki?" He looked around and saw his older brother running after what appeared to be a marching girl. Wait, not marching, she was stomping her feet and by the way she had her shoulders hunched over, she was pissed. Naruto smirked as he decided to see what all the fuss was about.

Running after the two but careful not to get spotted, Naruto jumped onto the roof of a nearby building and watched Inuyasha catch up to the girl. Naruto blinked repeatedly, the girl kind of reminded him of Hinata except for her eyes and clothes.

"Hey, what the hell was that?!" Inuyasha barked. Kagome looked at him for a while before 'hmph'ing and walking past him. Inuyasha growled as he grabbed her arm to stop her.

"SIT!" She yelled and Inuyasha, and unfortunately Naruto, fell onto his face. "SIT, SIT, SIT, SIT, SIT, SIT, SIT, SIT!" She repeated continually as Inuyasha was buried deeper onto the ground. Naruto had the misfortunate to be on a roof and to make matters worse, he was near the edge so by the third 'sit', he was falling to the ground and slammed against the unforgiving concrete. Kagome noticed this and ran towards him.

"Are you ok?!" She asked in worry, not knowing exactly from where he fell from but falling on his face had to be painful no matter how high he was. It wasn't until he looked up at her with a dazed look that she noticed that he was also a hanyō. "You… You're a hanyō too?" She asked and Naruto mumbled some incoherent words as his tail dropped to his side. After composing himself he looked at her before backing away.

"AH! Don't say that again!" Naruto yelled as he held his head. "It's not easy falling from the top of a building onto your face and still live through it, you know." He stated before he was enveloped in a hug.

"I'm sorry." Kagome said and Naruto blushed; his personal bubble was starting to pop.

"I-It's ok." Naruto stuttered. Kagome smiled then sneezed as Naruto's ear twitched under her nose. Naruto gently pushed her back. "Heh sorry." He said with a nervous chuckle.

"Hey, where's my sorry?" Inuyasha asked after finally getting out of his crater. Kagome glared at Inuyasha as she crossed her arms.

"I'm still mad at you." She said and Naruto rubbed his forehead with his right eye closed.

"Heh-heh, what'd you do this time aniki?" Naruto asked and Kagome looked at him with a raised eye brow.

"He's your older brother?" Kagome asked and Naruto nodded with a smile. "I'm so sorry." Kagome apologized to Naruto, earning a laugh from him and a growl from Inuyasha.

"It's ok, you get used to him. So uhm… what are you both doing? You two on a date?" Naruto asked with a mischievous smile. Kagome blushed and so did Inuyasha.

"It's not like that. I found her earlier today outside the village and brought her to the hospital. After she woke up, she wanted me to show her around the place since I'm the only one she knows." Inuyasha explained and Naruto nodded sagely.

"I see, that makes sense… so it is a date." Naruto concluded and Inuyasha palmed his face while Kagome's blush never left, if anything it darkened. Naruto then growled before glaring at Inuyasha. "What are you doing on a date when you and Kakashi-sensei were supposed to be at the memorial stone an hour ago?!" Naruto asked.

"Relax, I knew the scarecrow wouldn't show up and still won't for another… hour or so, I have enough time to waist." Inuyasha answered carelessly, "And this is not a date!!!" Inuyasha yelled. Naruto closed his eyes, sat in the lotus position and folded his arms behind his head.

"Ok, ok, geez, you're worse than Sasuke after I accused him of being gay. Seriously, who says 'no' to every girl that asked him out and still be straight?" Naruto asked no one in particular and Inuyasha and Kagome sweat dropped. "Well fine, if it's not a date then what is it?" Naruto asked. Inuyasha sigh, his brother was just plain stupid.

"He was just showing me around. My name is Kagome by the way." Kagome said with a bow. Naruto bowed back.

"My name's Naruto Uzumaki, remember it because one day, I'll be Hokage!" Naruto cheered and Kagome giggled. Inuyasha couldn't help but smirk as he cracked his neck.

"Well if we're done, we might as well start the tour." Inuyasha said and Kagome nodded as she stood. Naruto jumped up and then a thought occurred to him.

"Wait, let me go get someone." Naruto said and disappeared from Inuyasha's and Kagome's sight.

"Where'd he go?" She asked and Inuyasha chuckled lightly as he walked away. Kagome followed after him while giving him a questionable look.

"He went to get his girlfriend." Inuyasha answered and Kagome smiled.

"But he's so young." She said and Inuyasha laughed louder.

"I guess, it's actually a bit more complicated than that but that's the gist of it." Inuyasha answered and continued to walk beside Kagome who was looking at him. "Listen, I gotta do something in a little while so I can either drop you off at my house so you can wait there for me or come with me now; What do you say?" Kagome thought it over for a while before making her decision.

"Can I buy something first?"

**[*.*.*.*]**

Naruto smirked after arriving to the memorial stone as he saw Hinata sleeping while she leaned her back against a tree. Sasuke looked bored with his eye glued to the clear blue sky. Naruto fell on all fours and crawled around his two teammates as slowly and quietly as he could. He had two choices, two preys; Hinata or Sasuke. Now the question was; who's going to be his target? Hinata and Sasuke were both distracted but Hinata was asleep and wouldn't be as difficult to prank. So he set his eyes onto his new prey; Sasuke Uchiha. But how was he going to do this?

Naruto smirked after thinking about it for a minute; this prank would prove if Sasuke was gay or not. Naruto smirked as he disappeared into the shadows of the bushes, his crimson red eyes glinting in the shadow.

Sasuke smirked as he felt Naruto's chakra presence disappear; for a second, he was expecting Naruto to prank him or something.

"Sasuke-kun." A hushed and seductive voice said behind him. Sasuke's left eye brow rose as he looked behind him and stopped dead in his tracks as his mouth hung agape. In front of him was a brown haired girl with wet clothes that hung tightly to her moist, very developed body. She was leaning forward a bit with her arms wrapped around her body as to show him her well developed breast. Sasuke couldn't be sure, but by the girl's… assets, it appeared to Sasuke that she had jumped in some _very_ cold water.

"Wh-Who are you?" Sasuke stuttered with a blush and the girl developed her own blush as her blue eyes pierced his very soul.

"I-I don't know. I-I woke up near a l-lake and can't r-remember anything…" The girl walked over to Sasuke and was too close for comfort. "Except for you." She finished and her warm breath was on his neck since she was leaning forward. "Hug me, I-I'm c-c-cold." The girl stuttered as she leaned on Sasuke. He got to feel her well developed breast rest on his still developing muscles. His blush darkened and he felt his strength leave him. If the girl did anything else then he'd definitely faint.

"I-I should p-probably take out m-my clothes unless I-I want to get h-hypothermia." She said as she reached for the bottom of her shirt. That was it.

**_Thump_**

The girl blinked repeatedly as she saw him lie down, unconscious and a trickle of blood falling from his nose. She smirked victoriously as a cloud of smoke enveloped her being and Naruto stood in her place, laughing loudly as Sasuke remained still.

"DAMN! THAT WAS SO WORTH IT!" Naruto bellowed as he fell on his butt. He held his stomach as he continued to laugh madly. After he calmed down, he tried to catch his second wind as he stared at the sky, much like Sasuke was doing earlier. "I swear that was worth it but I'm surprised he lasted that long. Others have been knocked out even before I got close to them." Naruto suddenly shivered as he closed his eyes. He blinked repeatedly as he knew something bad was going to happen later for what he just did.

"Well, well, what do we have here?" Naruto tensed as he heard a lazy voice say right beside his right ear. "That was a pretty bad idea Naruto; you're going to need his help later." Naruto turned around but saw no one. "Over here." Naruto looked forward and saw an eye smiling Kakashi with an alarm clock under his left arm.

"You're fast." Naruto commented and Kakashi nodded.

"Do me a favor and wake the two sleeping princesses up for me." Kakashi said and Naruto chuckled. He kicked Sasuke in the stomach and Sasuke started to cough violently.

"Wake up princess; we're starting the test now." Naruto didn't give Sasuke time to respond as he walked over to Hinata and crouched in front of her. He smiled with his eyes closed and gently shook her shoulders. Hinata stirred and opened her left eye. She saw a blurry Naruto looking at her; smiling the smile that always caused her to blush. She smiled fondly as she groggily raised her hand and caressed his right whiskered cheek affectionately.

"Naruto-kun." She said dreamily and affectionately. Naruto blushed at the affection she was giving him and felt his heart quicken its pace.

"Hina-Hinata…chan." He said as he felt like his heart was about to jump from his chest. What was he feeling; why did he feel warm from the contact and the gaze she was giving him? He was never given this look before and yet it felt familiar; almost natural. However, Hinata's mind soon cleared and all thoughts of sleep were removed from her head. How? Well for one thing, this felt too real to be a dream. The other? Well, Naruto raised his hand up and touched her hand, sending a chill through her body. She blushed darkly as she retracted her hand.

"N-N-Naruto-kun." She said, after which she gasped and stood up quickly. Naruto was confused as he looked up and saw Hinata looking away from him with a sad look. _'Oh no, he's going to think I'm weird and won't want to be my friend anymore.'_

"Hinata-chan, are you ok?" Naruto asked and she nodded. "Are you sure, you look sad about something." He said and Hinata looked at him. "Come on, smile; what have I told you about smiling?" Naruto asked and as the memory replayed in Hinata's mind, she subconsciously smiled. "There it is! Now come on, Kakashi-sensei is starting the test." Naruto said as he walked away to where Kakashi and Sasuke were standing. He raised his hand over his heart and felt it steady its pace.

_'What's wrong with me? Am I sick?'_ Naruto's mind continued these thoughts as he stood next to Sasuke who was glaring at him for the kick. Hinata stood to the other side of Sasuke as her eyes would wander to Naruto; had she offended him?

"Alright, since we're all here, let's begin." Kakashi said as he kept his eye closed. Naruto looked around before looking at Kakashi oddly.

"Where's aniki, Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked and Kakashi chuckled. He turned around and started walking away from the confused genin.

"Well, he's already where he's supposed to be so… let's go meet him there." Kakashi stated as the genin looked at each other before following after the breathing scarecrow. They walked for what seemed like hours before they stopped in front of a forest surrounded by a long, steel fence. "Here we are, Training Grounds NO. 44 or as most like to call it, The Forest of Death." Kakashi announced as his charges stared at the forest in awe and fear.

"K-Kakashi-sensei, w-w-what are we d-doing here?" Hinata asked after getting over her stupor. She let out a squeak when she felt someone land behind her.

"Here's where your going to do your survival training ." Inuyasha stated enthusiastically as he put an arm over Hinata's and Sasuke's shoulder and leaned on Naruto who was in between the other two. "Yup, for the next six hours, all three of you will be in there, trying to survive." Inuyasha continued, scaring Hinata, Sasuke and Naruto.

"WHAT?!" Naruto yelled as Kakashi chuckled

"You see, here's what going to happen: the three of you will be in there," Kakashi pointed behind him, "The Forest of Death, and have to accomplish a group mission while in there. Meanwhile, Inuyasha and I will also be joining you, to occasionally mess you guys up or help you out a bit, whatever the case might be. Also, from what I can sense, Inuyasha has a bit of a surprise in there for us." Inuyasha snorted as he looked away from curious eyes. "Anyways, it is your own responsibilities to complete each of your individual missions are before time runs out." Kakashi explained.

"Wait, so we each have our own missions but we have a common mission too?" Naruto asked and Kakashi shrugged.

"Something like that." Kakashi answered nonchalantly. "Well, we might want to start now, it's almost noon and being here at night is the worse possible time to complete it." Kakashi said as he opened a gate that was near him. Team 7 and Inuyasha followed until Kakashi made a hand sign. A poof later, a second Kakashi stood besides the original. "Sasuke, you follow this handsome devil to the twenty second gate while Inuyasha takes Naruto to the sixth gate. You, Hinata, will stay here with me at the fourteenth gate. There, we will brief you on your mission and we'll start. Any questions before we begin?" Hinata, Sasuke and Naruto raised their hands. "Good, let's get going!"

The Kakashi clone started walking to the left and Sasuke ran to catch up with him. Naruto said a quick and somewhat nervous goodbye to Hinata before Inuyasha grabbed him by his collar and disappeared in a blue and red blur.

Hinata nervously pointed her fingers together as she walked up to Kakashi who was eye smiling at her.

"So Hinata, are you excited to begin?" Kakashi asked and Hinata gulped before nodding hesitantly. "That's what I like to see." Kakashi stated with a sweat drop; such an enthusiastic girl.

"A-Ano, K-Kakashi-sensei, w-what's my m-mission?" Hinata asked after a short period of awkward silence... for Hinata; Kakashi had already taken out his orange book.

"Hmm? Oh, your mission is to take this," Kakashi took out a jade stone entrapped in a claw setting with a brown, thin string through the hole.

"And make sure it that you are the last hold on to one."

"So, all I got to do is make sure I have this sapphire necklace until time runs out?" Sasuke asked as clone Kakashi shrugged his shoulders.

"That's the gist of it but you'll have to be careful because in this training, we're only allowing two of you to pass."

"ONLY TWO?!" Naruto shouted and Inuyasha nodded while handing Naruto his ruby necklace.

"That's right, at least two out of the three of you will be allowed to pass, even if every one of you three have your necklaces. It's possible that one or none of you passes if me of Kakashi feel like it." Inuyasha explained and Naruto frowned. "Oh and you can't hide your necklace; it either has to be around your neck or tied to your pants, your choice." He added and Naruto opened his mouth to ask another question.

"W-What would happen i-if all of us have the necklaces?" Hinata asked in a scared tone. Kakashi's only visible eye gleamed.

"Then none of you pass." He answered.

"W-Why?" Hinata asked.

"Because if we let all three of you pass, what would be the point of this test?" Kakashi answered.

"So we're purposely being set up against each other by making sure at least one of us doesn't have a necklace?" Sasuke asked the clone in front of him as said clone comically raised his hand to his chin.

"Hmm... I never really thought of it like that. I guess that is the case huh?" The clone stated with an eye smile. Sasuke looked at the clone skeptically; there was something else to this test but he wasn't sure what.

"So what's the common mission we all have to complete?" Sasuke asked.

"Survive." Inuyasha answered stoically and Naruto's eye widened.

"Survive? What do you mean by that?" Naruto asked worriedly; the hell kind of training was this?

"Just like I said, survive. This forest is filled with killer and/or poisonous bugs that will most likely want to eat you and the other two for a light snack and I use the term 'light' very loosely." Inuyasha explained. "While me and Kakashi will be in there with you, there's no sure way to make sure you're all safe unless we're near you all the time. We can't do that since the test would be pointless if we do." Inuyasha continued with a lazy aura around him.

"Thanks for caring." Naruto replied back in a deadpanned voice. Inuyasha smirked and patted Naruto's shoulder.

"Don't worry about it brat, you know you'll always have someone to cover your back; me, Hinata and maybe Sasuke... maybe. Don't forget that." Inuyasha said semi-compassionately. Naruto stared at Inuyasna oddly knowing full well that he's brother was anything but compassionate unless it dealt with something really serious. As far as Naruto knew, taking this training was not serious except for the possibility of death but it was still odd to Naruto. What was his aniki getting at?

"Ok, aniki." Naruto answered and Inuyasha nodded before grabbing Naruto by his collar and rearing his right leg back. Before Naruto was allowed to register what was about to happen, Inuyasha kicked Naruto and he was sent flying into the forest.

"That's payback for earlier!" Inuyasha shouted as Naruto disappeared into a sea of green. Inuyasha frowned as he jumped over the fence and started to walk into the forest. "He better have gotten the hidden message."

**[*.*.*.*]**

Hinata wandered the forest with her Byakugan open and her mind on alert. She had been able to see many of the dangerous creatures that roamed the forest and was grateful for her abilities. Stopping in front of a calming river, Hinata bent down and splashed some water in her face. She still felt a bit tired from her sleep and she needed to be awake for this event less she wants to die; which was not the case.

Her thought drifted to what Kakashi told her before he let her begin the training.

_"Individually, we are one drop. Together, we are an ocean"_

_'What did he mean by that?' _She thought. The sounds of footsteps behind her alerted her that someone was there so she spun on her heels as she squat down and quickly fell into her Gentle Fist stance. She saw a indigo haired girl, probably two to three years older than her, walk up to her with her black cloak covering the rest of her.

"Who are you?" Hinata asked all the while surprised that she didn't stutter. She was glad, she didn't want to stutter while trying to be intimidating; not a good combination.

"I am here because I was curious as to the other person who possessed spiritual powers." The young teen said and Hinata looked at her suspiciously.

"W-What do you mean?" Hinata scrunched her face in annoyance; there's that stutter!

"When I first woke up, I sensed that there was someone else here that had spiritual powers; spiritual powers almost identical to mine." The young teen took out a bow and arrow from behind her back and the arrow was pointing at Hinata's heart. "Get ready!" She shouted as she let the arrow slip out of her hands.

Hinata jumped away as she evaded the arrow. She looked up to see young teen rearing back her hand, ready to launch a second arrow. Hinata reached into her pouch and grabbed a kunai but its handle before throwing it. The teen had to stop her attack to dodge the kunai and was soon face to face with Hinata. The teen jumped back just in time to avoid getting a open palm thrust into her abdomen. She quickly set up the arrow and let it fly out of her hand.

Hinata turned to the left as the arrow scratched her right arm. She hissed in pain but ignored it as she charged at the teen who attacked her. The teen kept moving away from Hinata while attacking her with arrows. It wasn't that hard to get close but Hinata found it hard to land a hit on the teen.

**[*.*.*.*]**

Sasuke looked around his surrounding area as he remembered running into a giant centipede. That thing was huge for a bug! Sasuke tensed as he heard someone land behind him and chuckle. Sasuke jumped back and avoided being pierced by a shuriken. He looked up and saw Naruto smirking happily at him.

"Dobe?" Naruto's happy expression darkened as he ran at Sasuke who took out his kunai as he threw it at Naruto but was amazed as Naruto took a sharp right before running at him again. "Fast." He commented as Naruto threw his right fist forward. Sasuke grabbed it with his left but was blown back as Naruto quickly retrieved his fist and spun to deliver a devastating roundhouse kick. Sasuke had a good sense of timing as he was able to reduce the damage by moving his head but still felt the hit.

Staggering back, Sasuke failed to see Naruto take out thin wires and tie them to his kunai. He threw them and they landed beside Sasuke who thought he missed until he saw the wires glisten from the sun's rays. Naruto, holding on to the wires, ran around Sasuke and tied him up. Sasuke growled as Naruto stopped in front of him. Naruto cocked his fist back and hit Sasuke's with a smirk... until Sasuke was replaced with a log.

Naruto's eye widened as Sasuke appeared under Naruto and kicked his chin.

"Drop the act Kakashi-sensei, I know it's you." Naruto smirked as he disappeared and an eye smiling Kakashi was seen in his place.

"How'd you find out?" Kakashi asked in earnest.

"Naruto's never used ninja wires; I've fought him before so I know how he fights." Sasuke explained and Kakashi chuckled.

"Very good Sasuke but you have passed yet."

"We'll see about that." Sasuke said as he fell into his stance.

**[*.*.*.*]**

Naruto rubbed his head as he leaned against a giant tree; he really hated his aniki. He supposed he deserved it but still, the fall hurt like hell! Sniffing the air, Naruto smirked as stood up straight.

"I know you're there aniki, I can smell you."

"**Iron Reaper Soul Stealer!**" Naruto fell on all fours before jumping away from Inuyasha's attack. The resulting impact to the dirt sent it into the air and clouded Naruto's vision. Naruto's golden fox ears twitched as he concentrated on his hearing. He heard footsteps as they ran around him and tried to attack him from behind. Naruto reached into his pouch and threw a single shuriken in the direction where he heard the footsteps. With several quick hand signs, Naruto had a surprise for Inuyasha.

"**Ninja Art: Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu!**" That one shuriken divided into a hundred shuriken and Naruto smirked when he heard the footsteps stop abruptly.

"**Iron Reaper Soul Stealer!**"

"Damn!" Naruto barely dodged the attack as it scraped his right leg. Naruto landed on his right knee as the dust that was kicked up started to clear. Naruto saw Inuyasha smiling arrogantly at him.

"We've been through this before; we fight and you always end up at the hospital after the fight. So either give up the necklace or get ready for an ass kicking." Inuyasha said and Naruto smirked as he drenched his right finger tips with his blood before his closed up.

"That's not going happen! **Blades of Blood!**" Naruto shouted as four crimson blades of energy headed for Inuyasha. Inuyasha was surprised to see Naruto pull off his move but moved out of the way as it harmlessly passed him by.

"How do you know how to do that? I never taught it to you." Inuyasha asked and Naruto stood up.

I watched you do it and after you explained how you did it, all I did was practice and here we are. **Blades of Blood!**" Again, Inuyasha dodged out of the way and smirked.

"What about Iron Reaper Soul Stealer?" He asked and Naruto's smirked increased.

"Compared to Blades of Blood, it was simple to learn."

"Hmm, this might actually be funner then I first thought." Inuyasha said as he cracked his knuckles. Naruto's crimson eyes focused on Inuyasha as he readied himself for anything knowing how unpredictable his brother was in a fight.

* * *

**So that's it... I was actually going to stop it right after Hinata ran into Kagome and asked who she was but I decided since it's been a while since I updated this, I'd give you an extra something to read...**

**I hope some of you are happy Kikyo was actually Kagome... I know some of you were ready to rip my head off because you thought it was Kikyo... I was actually surprised by the amount of people who knew it was actually Kagome... I thought I would be able to play it off but guess not...**

**I also added the small fluffy scene between Naruto and Hinata since I haven't read anything fluffy about them in a while...**

**And I hope no one gets mad at me for giving Naruto 'Blades of Blood' and 'Iron Reaper Soul Stealer'... I think it's a good attack for him to have in his arsenal... I honestly don't care if you hate the fact he knows these attacks; get over it... You don't like it, then thanks for reading so far but you can press the pretty, little red button on the top right corner of the screen now... You see it? Yeah-no your other right... Yeah that one, the one with the "x" on it... Ok there you go!**

**The next chapter will be the conclusion to Kakashi's little test and the beginning of my twisted version of Naruto's life with Inuyaha as his older brother... Oh how fun it'll be huh? Oh and I know Kakashi's test isn't exactly the best method to show them that you have to work with your team to pass mission and survive them and that my version of the test is only a bit more dangerous than the canon's but what can I say, I couldn't think of anything and was the reason I had momentary writer's block... Sorry...**

**Moving on to the polls... By the time the next chapter comes out, I will close the poll and you will all see what the results are... By the way, I'd like to mention again to those who haven't voted yet that you have... oh about a week or two until the poll closes... I feel like I've neglected my other story 'Naruto of the Immortal Clan' so I'm going to be working on that one before I type out chapter 12 for this story... Speaking of which...**

**Next Chapter: Together We Stand, Together We Fall!**

**Oh, Hidden Rose says her hey's and sups and wants to thank everyone who wished her to feel better... And for those who are curious, the song in the beginning of the story was "There for you" by Flyleaf...**

**Good luck with whatever and if you got a problem with me or one of my stories, please feel free to: Deal with it, Get over it or Choke on it...**


	12. Together we stand, together we fall!

**YO, WHAT'S UP???!!!**

**fI'm sorry I haven't been updating as fast as I usually do but school's a pain... still...**

**Anyways, to make it up _[I hope] _I wrote a longer chapter... yup, just for you my faithful readers!**

**Enjoy!**

**_"The only source of knowledge is experience."  
*Albert Einstein*_**

**Chapter 12: Together we stand, together we fall!**

**I don't own Naruto, Inuyasha or any of the quotes/sayings I have ever posted in my chapters...**

* * *

Naruto ducked under his brother's horizontal swipe of his sword. He had been running around the Forest of death all morning, hoping to not get cut in half by Tessaiga. Naruto had once or twice been able to land a hit on Inuyasha but the older Hanyō was just too tough for Naruto.

"**Iron Reaper Soul Stealer!**" Naruto shouted as he let his attack rush from his finger tips to Inuyasha. However, Inuyasha lazily blocked the attack with Tesiaga before running at Naruto again. Naruto cursed as he jumped above Inuyasha and landed on a tree branch. He jumped to another branch as he saw Inuyasha run after him.

"Leave me alone! I still have so much to live for!" Naruto bellowed as he ran away from Inuyasha as fast as he could. He heard Inuyasha chuckle and then lost it. He turned quickly and extended his leg out which surprisingly, connected with Inuyasha's face. Naruto laughed as he saw Inuyasha back up and pause on a branch as he recovered from the hit. Using this time to escape, Naruto faintly heard the sounds of grunting and chuckling in the distance. By the sound of it, it wasn't Inuyasha but… Sasuke and Kakashi?

Naruto landed a few meters away from the two as he watched Sasuke neck deep in the ground with Kakashi reading his orange book near him. Naruto sweat dropped at the scene; he wasn't surprised with Kakashi's demeanor. He actually expected it and promised himself that he will get rid of Kakashi's orange little book at a later time.

Naruto wondered if he should help Sasuke out and free him. Something in his mind told him not too since he might get him back for the prank and the kick but a louder voice yelled that it was a good idea. Summoning a clone as quietly as possible, Naruto and his clone separated and surrounded the two other shinobi.

"Just give up Sasuke and hand over your necklace." Kakashi said lazily. Sasuke grunted as he continued to struggle under the Earth's hold on him. Kakashi sighed as he put his book away and stood up. He walked over to Sasuke and fingered the necklace. "Fine, then I'll just take it."

Before Kakashi did, though, Naruto appeared from a nearby bush and tried to tackle Kakashi. But Kakashi was quicker and side stepped Naruto who ended up bumping heads with Sasuke, knocking both of them out. Kakashi chuckled as he took another step back and avoided a claw from a second Naruto.

"Sorry Naruto but that's not going to work on me." Kakashi said as he continued to absent-mindedly avoid all of Naruto's advances. Soon enough, Naruto began to tire out and he doubled over, trying to catch his breath. Kakashi chuckled as he was about to lecture Naruto about his lack of strategy until Naruto looked back up and smirked, confusing Kakashi. Suddenly, he disappeared in a cloud of smoke and Kakashi looked on in amazement. He heard of Naruto mastery of a jonin level jutsu but to have it down that it acted like the real one…

Then he noticed that he was alone in the clearing. The hole where Sasuke once was seemed to mock Kakashi as it lay on the ground without its victim. Kakashi slumped his shoulders in disappointment; now he wouldn't have time to catch up on his reading.

**[*.*.*.*]**

Sasuke shook his head as he cleared his headache. He learned a few things that day; one, Kakashi was quicker than he looked and two, Naruto had a hard head, both figuratively and literally. He tried to glare at said hanyō but his headache was still too much to bear with.

"Why are you trying to glare at me for?! I just saved you!" Naruto shouted and Sasuke flinched, wondering why the dobe was never quiet.

"You knocked me out by headbutting me, give me a better reason why I shouldn't be angry." Sasuke challenged and Naruto nodded.

"Fine, I just saved you from returning to the academy." Sasuke tensed for a second before sighing.

"Whatever." Was Sasuke response to his statement. Now, an awkward silence surrounded them as Naruto was engrossed with his own thoughts. Sasuke looked around and noticed that they were inside a giant hollow tree. He looked at Naruto and noticed that he was starting to turn red.

"Naruto, breath!" Sasuke yelled and Naruto took in a deep breath before breathing heavily. "What is wrong with you?! How do you forget to breathe?!" Sasuke yelled, really amazed more than angry about Naruto forgetting to breathe.

"Because I was busy being one with nature!" Naruto retorted, shocking Sasuke.

"What?" Naruto sighed furiously as he showed Sasuke his right hand.

"See my claws? See the dirt under them? Well that's what happens when I try to be one with nature." Naruto explained though Sasuke still didn't get it. "It's complicated but because of my demon side, I have some sort of ability to, well not exactly communicate with nature but I get a sort of feel for it. By digging my claws into the ground and expanding my chakra through them, I get to sort of feel everything within a half mile radius of me. Right now, aniki is trying to sniff me out while Kakashi is walking behind him. And I did see Hinata-chan for only a second before you brought me back."

Sasuke looked at Naruto incredulous; it was just unbelievable.

"How is that even possible?" Sasuke asked.

"It's not as easy as I make it seem and honestly, I think I'm the only one who can do it. Aniki doesn't have chakra as far as anyone knows and I'm the only hanyō who does have chakra. The time I do this is when I have at least a good two minutes to prepare for it and even then it takes me another minute to adjust to it. The only reason I'm doing it now is because I know you're here to guard me." Naruto said and Sasuke raised an eyebrow as he watched Naruto replant his claws into the ground.

"You trust me? Why should you when we're competing with each other?" Sasuke asked. Naruto grunted as he removed his claws.

"Since I doubt you're going to let me get back to what I was doing, we might as well walk; aniki and Kakashi are getting closer." Sasuke watched as Naruto walked out of the hollow. Sasuke stood and followed after him. He ran to catch up and stood in front of his path.

"Answer me first." Sasuke demanded and Naruto growled before settling on a glare.

"Ok, let me ask you something first, did Kakashi's clone explain what you were supposed to do in this test?" Naruto asked and Sasuke nodded. "Ok, so here's what we both should know: We have to survive and we must have our necklaces while making sure at least one of us doesn't. Doesn't that sound strange to you?"

"Yeah but this is Kakashi-sensei and Inuyasha-senpai we're talking about." Sasuke added and Naruto sweat dropped.

"True but still. What's the point of this team training if we're put against each other? I don't even think aniki is stupid enough to do something like this." Naruto explained. "I think it's a trick." Naruto admitted. Sasuke contemplated what he heard and nodded.

"That makes… sense I guess but what about the necklaces, what's the point of that?" Sasuke asked and Naruto shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't know but I think we should find Hinata-chan before we try to figure it out." Naruto advised.

"How do I know I can trust you?" Sasuke asked and Naruto groaned.

"You want to know how? Here…" Naruto untied his necklace from his dark blue pants and tossed it to Sasuke who caught it. "Hold that for me." Naruto said before walking away. Sasuke stared incredulous at the necklace before looking back at Naruto's back. Sasuke placed the necklace around his neck, along with his and hid Naruto's inside his shirt. There's no reason to let Kakashi or Inuyasha know he had Naruto's necklace.

**[*.*.*.*]**

Hinata was panting as she hid behind a tree while her attacker was firing arrows at her location. Hinata looked at the bow in her hand and wondered how her attacker was still able to attack; it's ludicrous!

"You can hide but I will find you sooner or later." Kagome said as she walked near Hinata. Said girl looked at the bow in her hands constantly before coming out of hiding and running away from Kagome. As soon as she was far enough, she grabbed the bow by both ends and snapped it with help of her knee. She threw the bow away as she activated her Byakugan again and looking for anyone but Kagome. She saw a couple of bugs hiding, waiting for its lunch and Hinata made a mental note not to go there.

Hinata gasped as an arrow pierced her left leg, causing her to deactivate her Byakugan. Hinata looked down and was surprised when the arrow glowed and disappeared a second later. She felt the area where her leg was pierced and felt a stinging sensation but no wound.

"Amazing isn't it?" Hinata smartly brought her head up and saw Kagome walking calmly towards her. Her cloaked billowed as her legs moved her closer to Hinata.

"H-How did you… do t-that?" Hinata asked, still a bit shocked. Kagome got into an archery stance and suddenly a bow made of light appeared from her wrist and she used her free hand to create an arrow of light.

"**Light Style: Rain of Arrows!**" Kagome said as a hail of arrows appeared from the light bow and raced towards Hinata.

"Eep!" Hinata jumped behind a tree just before the arrows were able to hit her again. Hinata panted and tried to catch her second wind as the hail of arrows didn't let up. After they disappeared, Hinata ran through the forest, hoping to get away from the psychotic girl. She activated her Byakugan again and started to look for Naruto. Even if they were competing, he'd help her out… right?

After a couple of minutes of running, Hinata stopped and doubled over. It didn't take long for Hinata to hear footsteps as she looked up and saw Naruto and Sasuke running towards her. She smiled but was frightened when she saw Naruto and Sasuke scowl. Without warning, Sasuke jumped high in the air and Hinata noticed him making some hand signs.

"**Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!**" Sasuke shouted and Hinata felt tears come to her eyes; she couldn't believe her teammates would go to such a level just for the competition. However, Hinata was snapped out of her thoughts when Naruto tackled her down and she looked up to see an enormous centipede being destroyed by the fireball. Then she felt Naruto grab onto her shoulders and push her out of the burning corpse's way.

"N-Naruto-kun!" Hinata yelled as she saw the burning corpse fall on Naruto. She was put to ease a second later when Naruto appeared from the fire unscathed. "N-N-Naruto-kun, you're ok!" Hinata glomped Naruto before blushing, letting him go and playing with her index fingers. "S-Sorry."

Naruto laughed sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his head.

"It's ok Hinata-chan." Naruto then became serious as he looked at his two teammates. "Ok, I have a plan but the two of you are going to need to trust me." Naruto started.

"I-I… I trust you, Naruto-kun." Hinata said confidently. Naruto smiled and then looked at Sasuke. Sasuke seemed deep in thought before nodding, a bit hesitantly but nevertheless, he agreed.

"Ok, here's what we're going to do…"

**[*.*.*.*]**

Inuyasha smirked as he found Hinata's scent. It was odd considering that he was actually looking for Naruto but a victim is a victim. Suddenly, he picked up Sasuke's and Naruto's scent. He hid under a bush as he saw Hinata defending against both Naruto and Sasuke who seemed to be fighting together. He sighed as he saw Naruto kick Hinata back with her back hitting a tree.

He moved quickly as he saw Sasuke run at Hinata with a kunai at the ready. He intervened right before Sasuke was able to stab Hinata and glared at him. However, Sasuke's reaction was not what he expected. Sasuke started to laugh.

"Nice try." Sasuke then jumped and tried to kick Inuyasha's head but was blocked by Inuyasha's free arm. Sasuke twisted his body and used his falling momentum to being Inuyasha down with him. Freeing both hands, Sasuke wrapped them around Inuyasha neck and locked him in a guillotine hold.

Inuyasha, however, was unaffected as he stood up with Sasuke's eyes widened.

"Wha-argh!" Sasuke choked on his words as Inuyasha forcefully removed Sasuke from him by grabbing him by his neck. Sasuke grunted as Inuyasha applied pressure to his neck. Inuyasha tossed Sasuke aside and watched as he recovered in mid air and landed on his feet. Inuyasha chuckled before feeling his right arm go numb.

He jumped back as Hinata tried to knock him out with Jyuken. Inuyasha smirked as he finally got what was going on.

"So this was all a trick, huh?" He marveled as Sasuke and Hinata got into their fighting stance. "Well you're going to have to do better than that." Inuyasha mocked.

"That's why I'm going to do… this!" Inuyasha heard Naruto yell from behind him. He turned quickly to see what he was talking about but soon wished he hadn't. Naruto was sitting a few feet away from him… with a bowl of steaming ramen in his hands. Inuyasha watched as Naruto slowly tilted the bowl to the side as if to drop the holy food.

Inuyasha, in a blur of red, dove for the ramen as it started to fall from the bowl. He opened his mouth and caught the ramen in his mouth. He smiled contently as all the ramen entered his mouth.

"Now Hinata-chan!" Inuyasha's eyes widened when he felt Hinata closing his chakra points and before he lost consciousness, he heard Naruto laugh.

"That's what happens when you're too cocky aniki!" Naruto taunted before turning his attention to a shy Hinata. "Awesome job Hinata-chan!" Naruto complimented and Hinata blushed.

"T-Thank you N-Naruto-kun, b-b-but it was y-your idea." Hinata said and Naruto chuckled sheepishly.

"Heh-heh thanks. Well come on, let's go to the meeting spot. The real Naruto and Sasuke should be there soon." Naruto said and Sasuke disappeared in a cloud of smoke and from the smoke appeared a second Naruto.

"A-Ano, Naruto-kun?" The two Narutos looked at Hinata and she blushed at the attention. "W-Where did you g-get the ramen f-from?"

"It's better that you don't know, Hinata-chan." Naruto answered deadpanned and Hinata sweat dropped.

**[*.*.*.*]**

Kakashi smiled as once again, Sasuke fell for the same trick twice. Now, as punishment, he was once again neck deep in the ground with a pout on his face.

"This time, I'm not going to ask, I'm just going to take the necklaces." Kakashi reached into Sasuke's neck and was surprised to feel two necklaces. Taking them out, he chuckled.

"I see you've been busy Sasuke. I guess this means you're better than Naruto huh?" Kakashi said sarcastically. Sasuke smirked arrogantly as he confused Kakashi by not struggling in his spot.

"That may be true but you might want to take one last look at your 'prize'." Kakashi raised his only visible eyebrow and looked at the necklaces. He noticed that they weren't necklaces but, in fact, smoke bombs. Without warning, they detonated and Kakashi started to cough as some of the smoke got in his mouth through his mask.

While pondering how that was possible, he heard the cry of many Naruto's. Next thing he knew, he was dog piled by ten Narutos. However, before he could retaliate, all the Naruto's dispersed themselves and Kakashi was once again surrounded by smoke. He summoned his chakra and used it to disperse the smoke around him. He looked around and again, Sasuke was freed and he was alone in the Forest of Death.

Kakashi shook his head as he reached into his weapons pouch for his but…

"Wha-What?! Where' my book?!" Kakashi frantically searched his person and after stripping to his boxers, he realized that it was during Naruto's dog pile that he lost his book… and it was taken by Naruto.

"NARUTO!" Off in the distance, Naruto chuckled, holding a small, orange book in his left hand while bumping knuckles with Sasuke with his right hand.

"Now all we have to do is meet up with Hinata and we'll finish our plan." Naruto said and Sasuke nodded. It didn't take long to reach the meeting point and Naruto and Sasuke entered the giant, hollow tree. They saw Hinata giggling as the Naruto clone was telling her something.

"…and the man got in soooo much trouble! He didn't even know how those blue handprints came from!" The clone Naruto said, earning more giggles from Hinata.

"S-Sounds h-hilarious Naruto-kun." Hinata said and the clone chuckled.

"Yeah, oh, let me tell you about the time I used the same blue paint on aniki to-"

"Looks like your clone is having fun Naruto." Sasuke mocked and Naruto blushed as the clone and Hinata realized that Naruto and Sasuke were there.

"H-Hello." Hinata greeted and the clone saw the glare and blush on Naruto's face; his face just screamed 'get over here!' The clone got up and walked behind Naruto as he exited the tree. Hinata and Sasuke watched them leave in interest, wondering what exactly the clone had done.

"Listen, you know just as much as I do that you're not supposed to tell that story to any… and I mean ANYONE!" Naruto scolded but the clone was indifferent to him.

"Hey, I was bored and Hinata obviously wasn't going to come up with anything… so I improvised." Naruto's vein popped from his forehead before he bonked the clone on the head… hard. The clone scrunched his face in pain before dispersing.

"Idiot." Naruto mumbled as he returned to the tree and saw Hinata and Sasuke looking at him. "What, that? Forget that, let's just finish the plan and pass this survival training thing." Naruto sat in the lotus position in front of the two and smiled.

"So… who has a plan?" He asked sheepishly as both Hinata and Sasuke sweat dropped.

"Dobe." Sasuke said in disappointment.

"O-Oh… N-Naruto-kun." Hinata commented but Naruto just kept chuckling sheepishly.

**[*.*.*.*]**

Kakashi pierced the landscape in front of him with his only visible eye like a hawk. His summoned dogs sniffed the area as they began to spread out. Kakashi stood on the highest branch that he could find and searched the land. His mission was simple: find his book and punish those responsible.

"Yo, Kakashi!" Kakashi looked down on his lap where Pakkun was. "We found the kid's scent." Kakashi nodded as Pakkun jumped and followed the scent with Kakashi behind him. He followed his until they reached a giant tree and he smirked.

"You sure he's here?" Kakashi asked, making sure he found the perpetrator. His dogs nodded and they disappeared. Kakashi snuck up to the tree and looked through one of the many holes in the tree and saw Hinata and Sasuke pacing the tree with Naruto on the floor, dead to the world.

There was his prey; lying asleep and defenseless. Kakashi eye smiled evilly and with a quick set of hand signs, his plan was put into motion.

"_**Ninja Art: Nirvana Temple Jutsu.**_" Kakashi whispered as feathers started to fall from the sky. Hinata and Sasuke started to become sleepy and before long, they fell to ground asleep. He snuck down from his place and stared at Naruto. His book was soon going to come back home.

He walked up to Naruto's motionless form and crouched down. "Well, you tried but in the end, the sensei will always top his student." Kakashi said as he reached into Naruto's kunai pouch and pulled out his book. Remembering the necklace trick, Kakashi looked at the book intensely before it was enveloped in smoke and was replaced with a small log and an explosive tag attached to it.

Kakashi threw the log high into the air and covered as it exploded. The explosion rocked the tree and Kakashi acted fast as pieces of the tree started to fall down on him and his students. Kakashi grabbed his three students and was about to leave but suddenly Naruto, Sasuke and Hinata hugged Kakashi and kept him from leaving.

"What? There's no time for this, we have to leave!" Kakashi said but neither of the genins let go. Kakashi covered his head as the tree fell on him and pinned him to the ground. He then heard three popping sounds and he knew that he just tried to save shadow clones. At the moment, he really hated that technique.

"Oh how the great have fallen." Kakashi looked up and saw his charges slowly walking up to him. "So, you want to pass all of us Kakashi-sensei or do we have to do more… fun things with you?" Naruto asked with a mischievous smile. Over the years, Kakashi has grown to know Naruto and that mischievous smile meant anything for fun… well, at least to the victim.

"P-Please just give up K-Kakashi-sensei." Hinata said shyly and Sasuke only had his smirk plastered on his face. Before any of them could react, Sasuke and Hinata were suddenly knocked unconscious. Naruto cursed as he parted away from everyone and landed a few feet away from a cloaked person who caught Sasuke and Hinata before they hit the ground.

"Kagome?" Naruto asked and Kagome removed her hood and smiled at Naruto.

"Good to see you again, Naruto!" She said cheerfully.

"The hell are you doing here?"

"She's here to help us." Came his reply but not from the ones in front of him. Naruto looked back and saw his aniki's amber eyes before losing consciousness. Instead of catching him, Inuyasha let Naruto hit the ground, making Kagome pout and glare at him.

"Why didn't you catch him?" Kagome scolded and Inuyasha shrugged his shoulders.

"He deserved it. Well Kakashi, now what?" Inuyasha asked Kakashi who shrugged his shoulder even with the weight of the tree on his back. Kagome and Inuyasha turned to the direction where they heard someone coming and saw Kakashi walk into the clearing. They look back to where Kakashi once was and saw a puff of smoke.

"I hate that technique when your brother uses it." Kakashi stated and Inuyasha laughed.

"Just because he tricked you three times with it doesn't mean you should hate it." Inuyasha countered and Kakashi glared at him.

"Well, since I have two of the three necklaces, let's tie them up, go back to the memorial stone and wait till they wake up." Kakashi said and Inuyasha nodded. Kakshi pulled out wire from his kunai pouch and tossed it too Inuyasha who caught it and tied Naruto up first. While he did that, Kagome walked up to Kakashi.

"What was the point of this? I mean, why not tell them to work together instead of making them get it through clues and hints?" Kagome asked and Kakashi eye smiled at her.

"Because they wouldn't have learned about team work if I just told them to. It's just like an old saying 'the only source of knowledge is through experience.' Get it?" Kakashi asked and Kagome hesitantly nodded.

"I… I guess…" She said and Kakashi nodded and went to help Inuyasha.

**[*.*.*.*]**

Hinata faintly heard voices speaking. She felt like her head was cracked in two and her world slowing coming to. Her eyes fluttered open slowly as her vision was still blurred.

"Hey, she's awake now." She heard someone say. She looked up and saw a blurry looking red blob. "You ok?" The blob asked and Hinata nodded absent mindedly.

"Here, drink this." A kinder, softer voice ordered and Hinata was a bit hesitant to comply. She was handed a cylinder shape and she slowly placed it on her lips and gulped down the liquid. It was water and soon she greedily drank it all. Finally, she put the cylinder object down and rubbed her eyes.

After finally clearing her eyes, she saw the world again and gasped.

"Hey Hinata-chan!" Naruto greeted from his place.

"Shut up dobe." Sasuke said next to him. Both were tied to two of three logs with Kakashi next to them reading his orange book. Hinata looked to her left and saw Inuyasha. She looked to her left and immediately jumped to her feet and fell to her family's stance.

Kagome blinked repeatedly before getting why Hinata was so anxious.

"I'm sorry; we haven't properly met have we? My name is Kagome Higurashi." Kagome introduced herself as she bowed. Hinata, still a little doubtful, bowed as well.

"H-Hello, I-I'm Hinata H-Hyuga." Kagome smiled.

"I'm glad you're ok Hinata-chan, I did go a bit overboard during our fight huh?" Hinata nodded. "Hehheh sorry." Kagome apologized with a sweat dropped.

"Well this is good and all but can we get started now?" Kakashi asked and Kagome nodded. "Alright then, long story short, Hinata, you get to stay on the team while these two get to go back to the academy." Kakashi stated and everyone, beside Kagome and Inuyasha, were shocked.

"WHAT?!" Naruto shouted and Sasuke wanted to scream that as well but his pride didn't let him.

"Yup, you two failed. Hinata is the only one who still has her necklace. Have fun in the academy!" Inuyasha said and was about to continue to mock when he heard Hinata's stutter.

"A-Ano, actually, I-I don't want to." Everyone looked at Hinata in shock. "I-If I am t-the only genin on t-the team, then I-I rather g-go back with them."

"But you still have the necklace." Kakashi said and Hinata shook her head as she removed her necklace.

"T-Then I'll give it to N-Naruto-kun or S-Sasuke, they deserve t-to be on the t-team more than I-I do." She said and walked to her other teammates. Inuyasha blocked her path with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Sorry it's too late, the test is already over, and you can't give it to them." Inuyasha stated and Hinata looked down at her necklace before giving it to Inuyasha.

"I d-don't want it." She said confidently before moving past Inuyasha and sitting beside her team. Kakashi, Kagome and Inuyasha looked at each other before looking at the two males.

"What do you say; take Hinata's necklace and stay on the team or go back to the academy?" Kakashi asked and Naruto had a defiant look on his face.

"Keep it, I didn't earn it and it wouldn't be as fun without these two." Naruto said.

"Sasuke?" Inuyasha asked.

"Hn, whatever, just keep it." He answered. Inuyasha and Kakashi looked at each other before smiling.

"Looks like you three… pass." Kakashi said and each one of team 7 looked at their two sensei incredulous.

"The hell are you three looking at us for, you passed. Aren't you excited?" Inuyasha asked.

"Yeah… it's just weird that we did. I thought we failed." Naruto said.

"Well, yes, you did but keeping the necklace wasn't really the point. The point of this training was to teach each of you to work together because together, you're so much strong." Kakashi explained.

"From some parts I saw, I did see team work from each of you." Kagome said and looked at Inuyasha who was looking at the sky. "Say something nice." She whispered harshly. Inuyasha just scoffed.

"Sit boy!" Inuyasha's and Naruto's rosaries both lit up and forced their face into the ground. "Oops, sorry." She said to Naruto.

"I-Itai that hurt!" Naruto shouted. He then discovered that he was freed from the wire and laughed. "I'm free!" Naruto said as he disappeared from sight. Inuyasha recovered from his fall and paled.

"Oh no." Everyone still in the area looked at Inuyasha. "This isn't good." He commented. Before anyone could ask, wired appeared from out of nowhere and surrounded Kakashi and Inuyasha. It tightened and constricted their movement. The wire was then pulled and Kakashi and Inuyasha were being dragged away by two Naruto's.

"Ne! I'll see everyone later!" The Naruto in the middle said as he two other clones chuckled darkly. Sasuke, Kagome and Hinata sweat dropped as the Narutos, Kakashi and Inuyasha disappeared in the horizon. Hinata untied Sasuke and the three started to follow after Naruto, hoping whatever he had planned for those two didn't cause too much chaos.

**[*.*.*.*]**

"Ah." Tsume Inuzuka purred as she let her tired and weary body get into the Hot Springs's water. She had too many missions that day and besides that, she still had to go home and deal with the clan. They sure have been a bit testy lately but she couldn't really talk, she was like that almost every day.

Before she could enjoy her time off, she heard the sounds of someone laughing from the men's side of the Hot Springs. She looked up as a shadow formed over the water and saw two figures falling into the springs. They made a huge splash and Tsume growled.

"What the hell?!" She shouted furiously as the two figures revealed themselves to be the infamous Copy ninja Kakashi Hatake and the demon dog Inuyasha.

The hot water alerted the two of their new surroundings and they looked around. Their eyes froze on Tsume's naked body who said woman was busy cracking her knuckles.

"Finally, a violent way to relieve my stress." She said viciously. While on the outside, and for the most part on the inside, they were terrified, they couldn't help but burn Tsume's naked body into their minds, their nose trickling with blood. "Ah, and they're perverts no less; fantastic." She growled.

"AH!!!" From outside the springs, Naruto was on his back laughing his butt off, Sasuke was smiling, Hinata was blushing while hoping both her sensei were ok, and Kagome was giggling. She knew she was going to have fun in her stay in she remembered something she wanted to ask Naruto.

"Hey Naruto-kun, how were you able to know when Kakashi was near you?" Kagome asked and Naruto looked at her while wiping away a tear.

"Hmm? Oh I was able to catch his scent from a few yards away." He answered and then laughed again after hearing Kakashi scream in pain.

**[*.*.*.*]**

Seconds became minutes; minutes became hours; hours became days and days became weeks. Soon enough, team 7 already had about twenty D-rank missions under their belt, all thanks to Naruto's Shadow Clone Jutsu. It varied from gardening to farming and babysitting to capture the demon-err, Tora. Sometimes, when they weren't out doing missions, they would go to the training grounds near the memorial stone and train on their teamwork or individual skills.

Right now, team 7 was wearily walking to the academy where the Third Hokage was handing out missions. Hinata was barely able to comprehend anything that was happening; she was just following her team. Sasuke was in a similar state but he made sure no one knew, or at least he tried. Naruto… was well Naruto.

He wasn't tired but he was a bit less energetic than usual. He was walking beside Hinata and Sasuke while Kakashi and Inuyasha walked behind them. Naruto was a bit confused with his life. The day after he passed the survival training, Inuyasha told him that Kagome would be living with them. At first he was excited; someone who also liked to hurt his aniki was moving in. However, that meant that she was taking his room and he'd have to sleep in the living room with his aniki.

Still, having his aniki torture twenty-four seven by a girl no less is pretty funny. In fact, if Naruto didn't know any better, he thought they liked each other. It was a bit hard to see but Naruto had somehow managed to see the signs; though he was still a little doubtful about it.

However, that wasn't what was confusing; it was the girl to his left. Yes, Hinata Hyuga was a mystery to Naruto.

He didn't get her; she always stuttered when she was around him and blushed that dark red blush. However, one day, he had followed her after one of their team training and found that while she did stutter when she talked, it wasn't as bad as whenever she talked to him. And she never blushed so darkly when he wasn't around. She would blush constantly but again, it wasn't as bad as when he was around her.

At first, he categorized it as being a girl thing but… he never saw another girl act like that. So he came to the next rational thing, maybe she was allergic to him. He thought it was silly at first but, what else made sense? It couldn't be because she liked him, she probably would've told him she did.

He blushed as he snuck a peak at Hinata. He shook his head as he continued his previous thought.

So, following that logic, the only other thing that made sense was that she was allergic to him. He tried to make sure that it was him and not ramen since he always smelled like it so before he went to eat at Ichiraku's, he went to visit Hinata and found that she still blushed and stuttered. It saddened him to think that his best friend was allergic to him but he also wondered why she didn't get away from him.

It wasn't really good to be around the thing you were allergic, was it? So why stay around him? Naruto guessed it was because she was a nice person and she didn't want him to feel bad.

Nevertheless, Naruto was really curious as to why she was allergic to him. He had asked Sakura and Ino, who he would sometimes see Hinata hang out with. When he asked them, all he got was their laughter and insults. It was odd though, the thing that Sakura told him.

"_Why don't try asking her?"_

And ask her he did. Unfortunately for him, the day he wanted to ask her was the same day they were taking a break from training and missions. Though, finding her was not as hard as he first thought. He thought, as a Hyuga who were so uptight and formal, she would be home but when he asked for her, her cousin only told him she wasn't there and close the door on his face. Naruto would've normally snapped but he was too preoccupied to attack.

Then, after he left her compound, he picked up on her scent and started to follow it. Then he noticed that there was stronger scent behind him. With his sensitive fox ears, he heard a soft voice whisper. He wasn't so sure so he continued to walk randomly around the village and noticed that Hinata was still hiding while following him. Was she stalking him? He remembered the confrontation and… well…

"_Ne, Hinata-chan." _

"_Eep!" Hinata jumped and her soft, fair skin immediately turned a bright crimson as Naruto suddenly appeared behind her. She looked at him with wide eyes as her back was against an electrical pole. _

"_N-N-Naruto… k-kun?"_

"_Whatcha doing?" Naruto asked. Then, before he could react, she fell forward and was unconscious._

Naruto wondered what exactly he did that time. Ok, so maybe he could've handled that situation a bit better but the point was that she always did that, the blushing, the stuttering and sometimes, the fainting. It was lessening with time but it still made him wonder why she did that in the first place.

Then, he was stricken with a new reason; maybe it was his hanyō blood? Maybe, like some people, she was allergic to animals, specifically foxes?

Well, Naruto couldn't be so sure but he was sure that he was going to find out.

"N-Naruto-kun?" Naruto was snapped out of his thoughts as he saw Hinata looking at him worriedly with a blush on her cheeks.

"Huh?"

"K-Kakashi-sensei said that w-we should stay h-here while he b-briefs Hokage-sama about our m-missions." Hinata said and Naruto looked around and noticed that only he, Hinata, Sasuke and his aniki were standing outside, with Kakashi nowhere to be seen.

"Oh ok, that's…" Naruto drifted off when picked up a scent in the wind. Hinata observed that he went rigid. She looked to Inuyasha to explain but saw that he too went rigid.

"You two, stay here, Naruto, let's go." Inuyasha ordered and saw the defiant look on Sasuke's face. "That's an order." Sasuke scowled but didn't do much else. Inuyasha ran towards the eastern gate and Naruto looked at his teammates.

"Tell Kakashi-sensei that we'll be back soon." Then he ran after Inuyasha. Sasuke and Hinata looked at each other.

"We should go after them, they're acting suspicious." Hinata looked down at her fidgeting fingers.

"B-But t I-Inuyasha-senpai s-said to stay h-here." Hinata retorted.

"Fine, then stay here, I'm going to see what those two are up to." Sasuke turned and ran in the direction where he saw Naruto and Inuyasha run to. Hinata watched him go and then at the academy. She whimpered as she decided to wait for Kakashi and then go with him to find out what Naruto and Inuyasha were up to.

**[*.*.*.*]**

Naruto and Inuyasha land in the middle of a clearing a couple of meters away from Konoha's eastern gate and look around.

"No doubt about it, that's the scent of a fox yōkai." Naruto said and Inuyasha nodded. He reached into his side and unsheathed his Tessiaga. They heard the bushes ruffle behind them so they turned but were surprised to see Kagome.

"Kagome? What are you doing here?" Inuyasha asked and she looked up him while reaching for her bow and arrows.

"I sensed a yokai's presence." She said and then the area around them darkened, making it look like night.

"What the hell?"

"You three, give me the girl and leave this place!" A voice roared, putting the three on alert.

"Who are you?" Inuyasha asked. A blue portal looking thing appeared in front of the three and then it disappeared again only to be replaced with a giant pink balloon with two big eyes. Naruto, Inuyasha and Kagome sweat dropped.

"So what will it be; the girl or your lives?" The pink balloon asked and started to float over to Inuyasha before gnawing on his head. A vein popped on Inuyasha forehead and Kagome and Naruto stifled a laugh.

"Argh." Inuyasha, finally snapping, punched the pink balloon and it started to fly around uncontrollably. It made a popping sound and a small fox yōkai appeared. Naruto looked at the kid yōkai deadpanned as it rubbed its head.

"Ow." It whined. Kagome stepped forward, slowly but surely. Her eyes were glassy and her right hand rose to her side.

"Kagome/Kagome-nee-chan?" Kagome ignored them as she kneeled before the young fox yōkai and picking him up. The yōkai looked back into Kagome's eyes until…

"SO CUTE!" She squealed as she locked the yōkai in a death hug. All Naruto and Inuyasha could do was sweat dropped as the yōkai struggled under Kagome's death hug.

After a few minutes of freeing the breathless yōkai, the four of them sat in the lotus position, minus Kagome who was sitting on her legs, and watched as the yōkai ate instant ramen. It was a mystery where Naruto kept the instant ramen packs or where he got hot water but still, no one questioned him. Watching the ramen being eaten by someone else was killing Naruto and Inuyasha on the inside.

"So, what's your name?" Kagome asked.

"And why did you want Kagome?" Inuyasha added. The yōkai stopped eating and looked at the two who asked the question.

"My name is Shippo and I wanted her so I can get my father back." He answered and the three looked at each other.

"What happened to him?" Naruto asked and Shippo looked at him. While Shippo was distracted, Inuyasha sneaked behind him and took his ramen. Kagome say this and pouted.

"Don't take that, it's his!" Kagome scolded and Inuyasha held Kagome back with one hand while keeping the ramen bowl away from her with his other hand.

"You snooze you lose." Inuyasha said as he brought the ramen bowl to his mouth and devouring the ramen in the bowl.

"He was taken... by… HEY!" Shippo shouted, getting the fighting two's attention. "I'M TALKING HERE!" Inuyasha and Kagome blinked repeatedly and then noticed their position; it currently looked like Kagome was straddling Inuyasha. Both blushed and separated, with Kagome holding the ramen bowl and returning it to Shippo. Naruto chuckled as he put his camera away.

"As I was saying, my father was taken by Hiten and Monten, the Thunder Brothers." Shippo said and everyone looked at him oddly.

"The… Thunder Brothers?" Kagome repeated and Shippo nodded. "But why?"

"I don't know, all remember is me and my dad relaxing and then a dark cloud looming over us. Before any of us could react, lightning consumed my father and then he… he disappeared." Shippo explained. "I followed them and I tried to fight them but I wasn't strong enough. They gave me a chance to get him back but I had to bring pretty girl back to them." Kagome blushed and giggled.

"So why take Kagome?" That earned him a hit on the head. She would've told him to sit but Naruto was near.

"Geez aniki, you really need to learn how to shut up." Naruto said as he palmed his face.

"Does that happen a lot?" Shippo asked.

"You get used to it." Naruto answered. "So, are we going to help him out or not?" Naruto asked out loud.

"Ha, you guys help me? You're no match for them. You two are only half demon; I can smell the human in you. Leave this to _real_ demons; it's got nothing to do with half breeds such as yourselves." Naruto's eye twitched as he appeared behind Shippo and he stepped on him, holding him down with his foot.

"What was that?" Naruto asked in a deadly tone and Shippo looked at him with fear.

"Ok Naruto-kun, you made your point." Kagome said and Naruto pouted.

"But nee-chan!" Naruto whined and Kagome shook her head. He muttered under his breath as he released Shippo from his hold and Shippo laughed. He then ran when Naruto started to run after him. "What's so funny you little runt!"

Shippo jumped over Inuyasha's head which brought Inuyasha into the chase. Kagome watched as she giggled. Finally tiring of the chase, Shippo stood between the hanyō brothers and then jumped out of the way when they dove for him. Landing on top of them, he summoned a heavy statue onto their backs and placed a sticker on the statue.

"AH! Get it off me!" Naruto and Inuyasha shouted as Shippo chuckled darkly.

"Sorry Kagome but I need my father back." Before Kagome realized what he meant by that, she was knocked out and was caught by Shippo who turned into a pink balloon.

"KAGOME/KAGOME-NEE-CHAN!" Naruto and Inuyasha shouted as they watched her get carried away. They tried to stand and follow after him but the statue was just too heavy. A few minutes later, Sasuke appeared.

"What the…?"

"Sasuke! Help, get the sticker off the statue!" Naruto pleaded and Sasuke looked at the statue and then at Naruto and Inuyasha.

"…no."

"WHAT?!"

"Come on, this is serious, Kagome was just kidnapped and we need to get her back! " Inuyasha said and Sasuke was a bit hesitant but removed the sticker nevertheless. With the sticker off the statue, Naruto and Inuyasha were able to stand and push the statue off their backs.

"Alright, you two go back and let Kakashi know what's happening while I follow after the stupid little brat. Now go!" Inuyasha ordered as he turned and started to follow Kagome's scent. Naruto and Sasuke looked at each other before nodding and running back to the academy.

When they got there, they saw Hinata talking to Kakashi who had a mission scroll on his hands.

"Oh, there they are. Where've you been and where's Inuyasha?" Kakashi asked.

"No time got to-wait, why do you have a mission scroll in your hands?" Naruto asked and Sasuke suddenly noticed the scroll too.

"Well, after talking it over, the Hokage agreed to letting us do our first C-ranked mission." Kakashi answered with an eye smile.

"Really?! That's awesome! No, first we have to help aniki and nee-chan." Naruto reasoned.

"Ok Naruto, hold on, first, tell me what happened." Naruto continued to explain everything that happened and Kakashi thought it over. "Well, I think Inuyasha has it handled." Naruto, Sasuke and Hinata looked at Kakashi doubtfully.

"It's true; with his speed, Inuyasha should be able to reach Shippo way before he finds the 'Thunder Brothers' as he calls them. And besides, I happen t know for a fact that Kagome is more than capable of defending herself. Besides, this mission won't last long and if we don't take it now, then someone else will." Kakashi said and Naruto looked at the ground. It did make sense.

"Alright, I guess." Naruto said hesitantly.

"Hn."

"I-I just hope they're o-ok." Hinata said and Naruto nodded.

"I'm sure they will. Now I want you three to go home and pack up for a weeklong trip. We'll meet at the north gates in an hour and I'll explain the mission there. You're dismissed." Kakashi's charges nodded and started to walk home to pack. When they were gone from his sight, Kakashi made some hand signs and a shadow clone appeared next to him.

"I'm not exactly 100% positive about the situation so I want you to follow Inuyasha's trail and stay hidden. You only interfere if you need to, understood?" The clone nodded before running to where Naruto told him Shippo was heading. Kakashi watched his clone leave and sighed; he sure hoped he was right too.

**

* * *

**

Ok, that's it... So how was it?

**Yeah, Kagome knows jutsu, what of it? In a world full of ninjas and sometimes demons, she has to have a better arsenal than normal bows and arrows and the whole spiritual thing that she doesn't even know how to control... here she does but that's not the point... by the way, that light jutsu belongs to Tenshi Namikaze who let me use it... I asked him a while back...**

**Uhm... well... a little bit of Inu/kag don'tcha think? No? Well, yeah, maybe in the next chapter we'll see some... maybe...**

**Yay! Team 7 is finally going on their first C-rank mission... but what will it be...?**

**I actually have a couple ideas but I kind of want to know what you think... Here are two options:**

**A: The original C-rank mission to the land of waves with my own spin to it or...**

**2: A mission from the filler arcs or...**

**Blue: A mission of my own creation!**

**Voice your opinion while you can... Either way, they will go on a C-rank mission, they will fight and somthing romantic will happen... With who, who knows... Maybe Inuyasha and Kagome, Naruto and hinata, or maybe someone right out of the blue... maybe Sasuke and sakura... Mwahahaha I'm so evil for those who hate Sasuke and/or Sasuksaku...**

**Well, I'm out of comments sooooo...**

**Next Chapter: The thunder brother's and the mission...**

**Good luck with whatever and if you got a problem with me or one of my stories, please feel free to: Deal with it, Get over it or Choke on it!**


	13. Pairings and Omake

**Yo, stalkers, anime-lovers and/or others of all shapes, sizes, ages and genders!**

**ok, I have a request to ask of you, my loyal/bored readers, and it involves my story!....**

**Pairings...**

**I'd first like to point out that I personally do not really care about pairings aside from NaruHina and MinaKushi... the others could vary from ShikaSaku to ItaIno... Weird I know but I'm just pointing it out...**

**That being said, I know there are a lot of you who do care who pairs up with who besides the obvious NaruHina... So I'm giving you guys a chance to voice your opinions if you care at all.... Except for Yaoi/Yuri pairs... No offense for those who do, I'm just not comfortable writing Yuri/Yaoi... I'm a guy so I'm not so hostile to yuri as to yaoi but still... that's a no-no in my book for writing... Sorry if I offended anyone just now, anyway...**

**Here are your options!**

**-NaruHina [You're stuck with this one...... DEAL WITH IT!]  
-NejiTen  
-NejiSaku  
-NejiIno [*Shudders*]  
-NejiTema  
-NejiOC/Hyuga not closely related...  
-LeeSaku  
-LeeTen  
-LeeIno  
-LeeOC  
-SasuSaku  
-SasuFemHaku [only if I decided to keep Haku alive and make him a her... No Yaoi]  
-SasuIno [I doubt it but eh...]****  
-SasuTen [I REALLY doubt it...]  
-SasuOC  
-ShikaTema****  
-ShikaIno  
-ShikaTayu [Uhm.... just for arguments sake, don't ask...]****  
****-ShikaSaku [is there even a fanfic with this pairing yet? it'd be awesome if I was the first huh? =]............. hm maybe not, never mind...]  
****-ShikaOC  
-ChoIno  
-ChoOC  
-KakaAnko  
-KakaKure  
-KakaSaku [If so, then after timeskip, no pedophiles in my story....]  
****-KakaRin [Long back story if so since I've come to appreciate this pair as of late...]  
-KakaOC  
-AsuKure  
-AsuAnko [Don't know if this has been done before but eh...]  
-AsuOC  
************-KibaSaku  
-KibaIno  
****-KibaFemHaku [been done before and the way it was written was awesome! No yaoi...]  
-KibaOC  
-ShinoSaku  
-ShinoIno  
-ShinoFemHaku [Done by Kyuubi123 and it was also awesome, story and pairing... So I thought, eh why not me too right?]  
-ShinoOC [Hey, Buggy needs love too, ne?]  
-GaaMats [This is my favorite pair choice for Sand Panda but still, if you don't, whatever...]  
-GaaSaku  
-GaaIno  
-GaaFemHaku [....don't ask...]  
****-GaaOC  
-KankuroSaku  
-KankIno  
-KankOc [Puppetier needs love too I suppose...]  
-ItaSaku [This one's going to be a hard one if it's chosen...]  
-ItaOc [Oc makes him human again... er, well I hope you know what I mean... at least returned him to the good side before he dies...]  
**

******************************That's about all I can come up with at the moment... I get the feeling I forgot one but can't place my finger on it... Eh...**

******************************By the way, if there is a pairing that you like but it's not here then let me know and I'll think about it...**

******************************OH YEAH! And if you like harems, then let me know as long as it doesn't involve Naruto and/or_[especially]_ Hinata... Like, Shika/Tema/Ino/Tayu/Kin or something... Any of the one's up there _[Besides NaruHina] _that you like in harems, just let me know...**

******************************Sorry for those who like Harems involving the knuckle head and heiress but I don't... It's either NaruHina or nothing at all... No KibaHina, No NaruSaku, No GaaHina... OH HELL NO! I don't even like typing the other choices... Feels so wrong to type and even read it... **

******************************Again, no offense to those who do, I just don't think its right... I feel like Naruto is meant to be with Hinata and vice versa and just like you, I have a right to express my views freely... So go ahead and hate, don't really care....**

******************************And since this site doesn't really allow messages through chapters, I wrote this omake just for you!!!**

******************************Omake: Why Kagome never lets Naruto clean while unsupervised...**

******************************By the way, this is during the time when Naruto and his team take on D-rank missions and Kagome moves in so on sneak peaks of whats to come...**

******************************I don't own Naruto....**

* * *

"Naruto-kun, can you please wash the dishes, I have to go to the grocery store to get some food." Naruto heard Kagome yell from her room as she got dressed. Naruto was still asleep and only faintly heard this.

"Hm.... What?" He asked sleepily. Kagome exited her room and shook him awake.

"Come on Naruto-kun, can you please clean the dishes." Naruto opened one of his eyes and looked at her before closing it again.

"Why can't you do it? I'm still sleeping." He didn't hear a comeback from Kagome which either meant she gave up or was waiting for him to make eye contact. He regretted opening his eyes as he saw Kagome pierce his very soul with her eyes.

"I-I'll get right o-on it n-nee-chan." Naruto got off the couch/bed and ran into the kitchen while Kagome smiled victoriously and headed for the front door.

"Oh and after that, you should vacuum the rooms and dust the place, ok?" She asked and heard him groan loudly. "I'll be back in half an hour and Inuyasha should be back from his week long mission sometime by lunch so you'll be home alone till then ok?"

"Yea nee-chan, don't forget to get ramen!" Kagome smiled as she shook her head, that's what Inuyasha would always tell her. She opened the door and then closed it as she headed for the grocery.

Naruto was washing a plate while mumbling under his breath.

"Stupid dishes... 'clean the dishes Naruto-kun, do this Naruto-kun, do that Naruto-kun'... hmm, I'll do whatever I want." Naruto ranted, mocking Kagome's voice as best he could in between his rant. Then he stopped and stared into space before smiling. He made a hand signed and let out a devious smile.1

"**Kage Bushin No Jutsu!**" A cloud of smoke enveloped the house and when it cleared, only two Narutos appeared, ready to be told what to do.

"You," He pointed to the one on the left. "Dust, you," He pointed to the other one. "Vacuum." The clones nodded and gave a hand salute.

"Yes Sir!" Naruto sweat dropped, he hated when his own smartass comments were used against him.

"Whatever, just go." The clones nodded and went to get the things that'll help them do their assigned jobs; the first clone went to look for the vacuum while the second grabbed the duster. Naruto sighed as he continued to wash the dishes before he realized that he was out of soap.

He looked around for the soap bottle but couldn't find it. He decided to go to some next door neighbor for some and did a quick henge so the neighbors wouldn't shut the door at his face. He looked at a nearby mirror and smiled as he barely recognized himself.

"Hey guys, I'm going to go get some soap, be back in a sec."

"Wait!" A clone shouted and Naruto turned. "Where's the vacuum?" The clone asked and Naruto shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't even know how to use one." Naruto said and walked out, leaving the clone fuming before going to search for it. After five minutes of searching, he found it in the bathroom for some odd reason and connected the plug. A second later, the original appearad with soap. He went to the kitchen and resumed his cleaning. Everything was going great, until the clone turned on the vacuum.

"AH!!!" The original Naruto, who had the soap's top unscrewed, jumped at the yell, making the soap bottle land in the sink while the water continued to run. Naruto ran to the living room where he sweat dropped at what he saw.

"Save yourself!" The clone choked out as the vacuum's long tube was wrapped around the clone's neck. The second clone was trying to help but the first clone was moving too much.

"Hold still idiot." Naruto rolled his eyes as he walked over to the vacuum and turned it off. Both clones looked at him while he tried to calm himself down.

"Am I really this helpless?" He asked rhetorically before heading back to the kitchen. The clones shook their heads and began to work again. The clone who was supposed to vacuum only had a chance to turn it on again before they heard someone fall, it the ground and yell,

"WHAT THE HELL?!" Both clones dropped their things and ran to the kitchen only to slip and fall with their backs on the floor. All three Naruto's were staring at the ceiling before the clones looked up and their eyes widened at seeing the sink overflow with soapy water. In fact, bubbles were everywhere; on the counter, floor, cabinets and everyother place.

"Things could not get any worse." The original said and one of the clones immediately stood and left the room. The other clone and original followed after the clone only to stop when they saw the clone try to free the curtains from the vacuum's evil hold on them.

"Let... go... you stupid... machine!" The clone finally freed the curtains only for the vacuum's hose to latch on to its shirt. "AH!!!" Naruto sent the clone next to him to help the other clone as he cleaned up the kitchen. The clone ran to his comrade's side only to be hit in the face and stumble back. He hit the vacuum, causing it to tumble to its side.

"Why would they even a vacuum with such a strong suction?!" The clone asked as he finally freed his shirt of the vacuum and threw it to the vacuum. "I'm tired of this! **Iron Reaper Soul Stealer!**" the clone yelled as his claws shined with demonic energy before leaving his claws and hitting the vacuum, causing it to explode. The aftermath of the explosion was all the dust it collected spreadin throughout the room and landing on every surface.

"What was-WHAT THE HELL?!" Naruto shouted as he re-entered the living room. He looked at the two smiling clones who were chuckling sheepishly and rubbing the back of their heads. "Idiots. Now how are we going to explain this to Nee-chan?" Naruto heard the knob behind him turn and his heart stopped.

**[*.*.*.*]**

Hinata was walking down the street to Naruto's apartment. Kakashi had asked her to tell him that their team meeting was going to be delayed since he had some other stuff to do. She blushed at the idea of being at Naruto's house again but nonetheless, she was excited.

As she got closer, she couldn't help but hear yells coming from her crush's house. She began to run until she was outside the door to his apartment room. She hesitated before hearing,

"WHAT THE HELL?!" She gasped and heard him saw one more thing before she turned the knob and opend the door. Her eyes widened as seeing one portion of the house filled with dust with parts of a machine scratter around the room while another portion, the kitchen, was filled with suds and bubbles.

"N-N-N-Naruto-kun? W-What..." Naruto sniffed the air and then immediately grabbed onto Hinata and started to run. Hinata was still too shocked to react as she mindlessly let herself be pulled by her crush. She snapped out of her stupor when she finally realized they stopped runnning. She looked around and noticed that they were in an alley.

"N-Naruto-kun, w-what happened?" She asked and Naruto chuckled sheepishly.

"I was supposed to clean the house but uhm... well, yeah, it backfired on me." He admitted and she giggled before another question popped into her mind.

"W-Why did you run f-from your h-house?" She asked.

"NARUTO!!! YOU'RE SO DEAD!!!!!!" Naruto and Hinata flinched as they heard Kagome yell.

"That's why."

**[*.*.Few minutes before.*.*]**

Kagome smiled as she walked home with groceries in her arms. She hoped Naruto did a good job with cleaning the house or he'd hear from her. As she walked up the steps to the apartment, she noticed wet footsteps going down. She shrugged it off and went to her apartment room but noticed that it was open. She took careful steps as she got closer and when she stood in front of the door, she dropped the groceries.

"NARUTO!!! YOURE SO DEAD!!!!!!"

**

* * *

**

There it is, the omake

**OK! don't forget to vote for your pairing choice for this story in a review/PM and if a pairing of your liking isn't here, just let me know in the review/Pm...**

**Well, I gotta go, school's being a drag... Till next time!**

**Good luck with whatever and if you got a problem with me or one of my stories, please feel free to: Deal with it, Get over it or Choke on it...**


	14. The Thunder Brothers and the Mission

**First, I'd like to say that I'm super sorry for updating so late.... Blame my AP class and my lame a*s school system for giving us the even lamer and a*sier graduation test... Seriously, that was a waist of time cuz I already knew everything... cept chemistry but that's different... I hate chemistry.... **

**Sigh...**

**Anyways, I can't promise that my updates will be quick and thorough since I still have my AP class to deal with and a research paper and my BETA is a little too busy.... So yeah, sorry, this chapter is not edited... Please be nice!**

**Well, hope ya enjoy it!**

**_"Most men pursue pleasure with such breathless haste that they hurry past it." _  
~Soren Kierkegaard**

******Chapter 14: The thunder brother's and the mission...**

******I don't own Naruto or Inuyasha or the quotes I put in my chapters/stories...**

* * *

Naruto arrived at his apartment and headed for the kitchen. He opened the cabinets on the far left, reached out and pulled out seven pairs of shirts and pants. Haphazardly throwing them in living room, Naruto walked into Kagome's room and took out a bag he got for long trips.

He threw his clothes into his bag and put it on his back. He looked around and shrugged his shoulders before leaving and locking the door on his way out. Naruto looked at his wristwatch he had gotten from some old guy who was mean to him. He forgot exactly what the man did but Naruto knew his actions were justified… somehow.

He still had time to kill so he summoned a clone to take his stuff to the gate and wait there. Before the clone could ask what he was going to do, Naruto disappears, leaving a cloud in the shape of him. The clone looks at the cloud until it disperses and leaves, mumbling about himself being rude to himself.

Naruto appeared in front of the bridge where his team usually meets in the mornings. He walked to the middle of it and stared into the water, watching his reflection dance as the river's water went downstream. He sighed and leaned on the bars that kept people from falling into the river. Naruto closed his eyes and let the sounds of the river calm him; his golden fox ears twitching at every sudden sound.

"Hey dobe." Naruto grunted angrily at having his peaceful time ruined by the teme.

"What teme?" Naruto turns around and sees Sasuke with his pack on his back. What he didn't like, however, was the small, devious smile on Sasuke's face.

Sasuke shook his head and continued to walk away, his hands in his pockets and his head held up in pride. Naruto, with an eyebrow raised, watches him leaves before shaking his own head.

"Weird…" Naruto commented with a roll of his eyes before sniffing the air and his ears twitching as they heard the sound of something flying in the air… headed for him. Naruto turned and rolled out of the way just as three balloons appear and hit the spot he was just in. He looked up and noticed three different coats of paint covering the bridge.

Movement to his left captures Naruto's attention as he sees a seething Sasuke jump down from his position on a tree only a few meters away. Naruto growled as the last Uchiha causally walked in Naruto's direction.

"The hell's up with that?!" Naruto yelled and Sasuke continued to walk past him.

"Supposed to be payback but it back fired. Don't worry though dobe, I'll get you back another time." Naruto glared at Sasuke as he continued to walk down the path where he saw the previous Sasuke walk down. Naruto sighed; he guessed the first Sasuke was a clone or something.

"Might as well go with him; seeing as I'm bored now." Naruto said to himself as he walked to the main gates, meanwhile thinking how Inuyasha was fairing on his quest to save Kagome.

**[*.*.*.*]**

Kagome's eye fluttered as she felt a slight breeze fall upon her face. She yawned and stretched as she sat up, blinking repeatedly as she saw the land beyond the Fire country in a bird's eye view. She rubs her eyes, thinking that she was obviously still dreaming but when she opens them again, she looks down and notices that she was sitting on a pink platform.

She shrieks when she feels the pink platform shake, as if struggling to stay in the air. She looks around, for something to jump on or something; sadly, only the hard looking ground was there. She slammed her hand on top of the pink platform and huffed.

"OW! Not so hard!" She gasped and moved to the edge of the platform to see and remember being kidnapped by Shippo.

"You jerk! How dare you kidnap me? INUYASHA!" Shippo inwardly flinched at the pitch of her tone. He then groaned as he felt her hit the top of his head with her fists.

"Hey, quit it!" He whined but Kagome ignored him; instead, she continued to pummel his head while continually calling out Inuyasha's name. At least until they were confronted…

"Well, well, such noise this girl makes." Kagome stopped hitting Shippo and turned to see a demon that appeared to be flying in the area next to her. He looked like something out of a bad fairy tale. She scolded herself for not sensing his demonic energy earlier.

"So, this is the girl you decided to bring me, eh kitsune?" The demon asked and Shippo nodded slightly, more afraid of the demon in front of him then of dropping Kagome from their height. Then he noticed something that made his thoughts disappear; his father was wrapped around the waist of demon. Shippo glared at the demon and did the first thing that came to mind; attack the demon.

He poofed out of his pink balloon form and got in the demon's face, scratching it as he hung on. Kagome, however, was sent hurling into the ground, screaming and hoping for someone to save her.

**[*.*.*.*]**

Inuyasha grunted as Kagome's scent was barely noticeable. Where ever the kitsune took Kagome, it would only be a matter time before he loses her scent all together. He growls and cracks his knuckles as the obvious feeling of helplessness over takes him and he punches the nearest object, which happened to be a tree.

"INUYASHA!" Inuyasha's ears perked up as he heard Kagome yell his name.

"Kagome!" Inuyasha ran in the direction where he heard her yell and suddenly picked up a third scent; the scent of a demon. He ran as quickly as he could and saw Kagome falling from the sky in frightening speeds. His mind solely focused on her, ignoring Shippo fighting a losing battle. His speed doubled as he was pushed to his limits to reach Kagome in time.

He climbed up a tree and pushed himself off it, grabbing Kagome and rolling on the ground to get rid of the extra momentum. When he stopped, he looked down on Kagome as he stood over her. She stared into his amber eyes in shock as he looked back in concern.

"You ok Kagome?" He asked and Kagome nodded. "Good."

"Ugh!" Inuyasha and Kagome turn their heads to see Shippo land near them and on his back. He struggles to sit up as he looks up at the sky.

Up in the sky, Manten, the demon, holds his face in pain and then tenses when he feels two strands of his hair fall out. He whimpers as he sees the only few pieces of hair he has gracefully floats down to the earth. His body spasms from rage and he lets out an angered yell.

"ARGH!" Inuyasha and Kagome look up and see from within Manten's mouth a bright yellow light. His head smartly moves down and a large blast of thunder heads for Shippo who's too scared to move. Inuyasha curses under his breath as he unsheathes Tessaiga and blocks Manten's attack. He deflects the last portion of the blast and then grips Tessaiga with both hands.

Not in the best mood, Manten is angered by Inuyasha's interference and unleashes another blast; this time however, he aims for the ground in front of Inuyasha. This surprised Inuyasha as he and Shippo were blown back from the blast.

"Hmm, worthless fox." Manten then turns his gaze on Kagome who was nervously looking at Inuyasha, hoping he was ok. "Guess I'll claim my prize." Manten then goes to Kagome who jumps away from him but was knocked out by Manten before she got too far.

"Kagome!" Manten looks up and see Inuyasha running to him. He quickly picked up Kagome and started to fly away, with Inuyasha right behind him. He jumps in the air and reaches out for Kagome. Manten turns his head and blast Inuyasha with a thunder blast.

Fortunately for him, Inuyasha still had Tessaiga out and blocked the blast but the momentum made him crash through three trees before hitting the ground.

"Augh…" Inuyasha moaned as he got out of the pillar he created. He heard someone else's groaning and saw that it was Shippo. He walked up to him and lifted him up in the air by his tail.

"AH!"

"Where is he taking her?" Inuyasha growled and Shippo looked at him before crossing his arms.

"Why should I tell you?" Shippo asked smugly. Inuyasha growled but let him go.

"Fine then, go, run like a coward. I'll find him myself." Inuyasha started to walk and Shippo watched him before getting up and going after him.

"Wait! I just want to know why you want to find him. Is it because you like Kagome?" Shippo said, his moving eyebrows suggesting more than what he said. Inuyasha blushed and looked away.

"Naruto wouldn't forgive me if I let her get kidnapped. So are you going to help or what?" Inuyasha asked and Shippo laughed.

"Sure half-breed." Inuyasha growled and kicked Shippo, sending him face first into a tree.

"I'm telling Kagome!"

**[*.*.*.*]**

"Where is he?!" Naruto groaned as he sat down on the bench near the main gates. After he and Sasuke made it to the main gates, they saw that Hinata was already there. He saw her blush as stuttered her hellos, which they both returned. Now, an hour later, the three of them were either lying on the bench, pacing around the gates or doing nothing.

"H-He said he would be here f-fifteen minutes ago." Hinata commented. "M-Maybe he got h-hurt." She finished, starting to get worried.

"Hn, he probably got lost; I wouldn't doubt he'd get lost 'cause that stupid book of his." Sasuke said, adding his two cents.

"AH! I'm getting sick of waiting." Naruto yelled, pulling on his blond hair.

"Calm down dobe, he'll be here." _'At least, he better come…' _Sasuke said and thought.

Half an hour later, team 7 hears the sounds of laughter coming down the road and sees Kakashi holding a hysterical looking drunk.

"No…"

"Freaking…"

"Way…" The last was said by both Naruto and Sasuke as Hinata watched in speechless shock.

"H-He's drunk." She stated and Kakashi chuckled nervously.

"Sorry we're late; our client got lost on the road of life." Kakashi excused and the drunken client looked at him oddly.

"Looks more like he got lost in a bottle of sake." Naruto whispered to his teammates which made Hinata giggle a little and even made Sasuke crack a smile.

"So, these brats are supposed to protect me. Ha, looks more like they'd wet themselves before they'd run." Naruto and Sasuke glared at the man and Hinata looked in a different direction. He pointed at Sasuke,

"That one looks like he'd rather cut himself in a dark bathroom." Sasuke sneered at him but let it go.

"That midget looks like he thinks its Halloween." Naruto chuckled as he looked around.

"Who's the midget who thinks… it's… Hallow…" He finally noticed that he was the shorter of his teammates; Hinata was only an inch or so taller than him.

"WHO YOU CALLING A MIDGET, YA OLD DRUNK!" Naruto yelled as Sasuke held him back. The client then looked at Hinata who flinched under his intense yet drunken gaze.

"You, ha, you don't look in the least bit frightening. You actually looked frightened and frail." The man's words struck home as Hinata looked at him before looking away.

"Hey! You can talk about the teme like that all you want but leave Hinata-chan out of it!" Naruto yelled and the client laughed but Kakashi didn't let him say anything else as he stood in between his charges.

"Ok, I think we should go now, we're burning daylight." Kakashi said as he started to head out the village. Naruto glowered at his client as he followed after him with Sasuke and Hinata next to him. He turned to Hinata was in her, as Naruto calls it, doubtful pose. Her hands were against her chest, playing with her hands and she wasn't looking up.

Even though her eyes were being blocked by her bangs, Naruto knew she had them closed and was biting her lower lip.

"Come on Hinata-chan, don't let what the drunken idiot said get to you. What does he know; he's probably nothing but a lonely, old drunk who lives under a bridge." Hinata looked up and stared into his blue eyes. Naruto forced a smile, hoping to make Hinata smile as well.

Seeing the forced smile, Hinata forced a smile of her own, just for Naruto's sake. He saw the false smile and he sighed; he guessed she knew his was false too.

"For your information, brat," Naruto looked up and saw his client looking back at him with his head slightly turned. "I am a super bridge builder and after I finish building my super bridge, my homeland will finally be able to become prosperous." Naruto stared deadpanned at the bridge builder.

"I bet you're only building it so you can live under a fancier bridge." He said and the bridge builder grunted.

"Tazuna, Naruto, calm down. We need to stay focus." Kakashi said from behind his team. "Naruto, when you're off on a mission, you can't be distracted, it could cost you your life or the life of your client." Naruto hesitantly nodded and looked at the trees around him. Tazuna looked at Naruto for a second longer before looking ahead again.

After walking for fifteen minutes, Kakashi hummed to himself as he passed by a puddle. Naruto's nose caught a scent and his right arm tensed, his claws clenched and his ears twitched.

'_Poison… but where…?'_ He was brought out of his train of thought when his ears picked up the sounds of chains.

"AH!" Team 7 turned to see Kakashi tied up by a shuriken chain.

"Too easy." The cloaked man on the left said as he and his companion pulled on the chain, mercilessly cutting Kakashi to shreds. Team 7 and Tazuna gasped.

"One down." The two cloaked shinobi then turned their sights to team 7 and Tazuna who, at one point, ran behind team 7. Naruto looked at Sasuke and nodded his head twice, giving him the signal. Sasuke relented but took out two smoke bombs and threw them to the ground as the two other shinobi ran at them. They stopped a few meters away from the smoke and waited for it to disappear.

"**Shadow Clone Jutsu!**" The two shinobi's eyes widened as five Naruto's appeared from the smoke and charged them. The two jumped back and separated, confusing the Narutos. By the time they realized what the other two shinobi were going to do, the Narutos were tied together by the shinobi's shuriken chain. The last thing they heard was the two shinobi's laughter before they were killed and turned to puffs of smoke.

The two shinobi went to deal with the rest of team 7 but noticed that they were gone, along with Tazuna.

"Damn, that brat distracted us." One of them said.

"Let's find them, we don't' want to make _him_ mad." The other nodded and they disappeared, looking for their target. In the shadows, Kakashi thought to himself, wondering who _he_ was.

"Damn it dobe, you know we could take them out easily." Sasuke said and Naruto glared at him. Surrounded by sturdy trees and dancing leaves, Naruto opened his mouth.

"Teme, the old drunk can't fight! What if he was attacked?" Naruto asked and Sasuke looked at the old man who was sweating bullets.

"Hinata would've protected him while we attacked." Sasuke persisted.

"It's not that she couldn't but can we really take that chance?" Naruto asked and Sasuke thought it over before begrudgingly grunting in agreement.

"N-Naruto-kun," He looked at her and she blushed. "W-What do we d-do now?" She asked.

"First, we have to know the two shinobi are after." Sasuke said and Naruto nodded.

"Teme, do you remember that trick I played on you the day we had to take our survival training?" Sasuke blushed but nodded. "Well, here's what were going to do…"

**[*.*.*.*]**

The Demon Brothers, Gōzu and Meizu, wandered the forest area, looking for any trail of their target. In a tree not too far away, Kakashi studied their movements, long ago realizing that they were two Chūnin missing-nins that were known as the Demon Brothers from Kirigakure. What he wanted to know was who they were after.

He would hate to think Naruto had done something to provoke them while on his travels with Inuyasha. However, he suspected that Tazuna was more likely being targeted. That would mean that Tazuna hired them under false pretense of protecting him from bandits.

Kakashi decided to watch them a bit more before going off to search for his team; no reason to jump to conclusions just yet. Though Kakashi was surprised to see Naruto and Sasuke running towards the Demon Brothers with Hinata and Tazuna out of sight, hiding behind a tree.

Naruto moved in front of Sasuke on all fours and remained still. Sasuke used Naruto's back as leverage to jump into the sky and throw a shuriken at their chain. It buried it to a nearby tree and was secured by a kunai that went through the shuriken's hole.

Sasuke landed in between the two shocked Demon Brothers and stood on his hands while kicking his legs out. The two brothers were kicked in the chin and the chain disconnected, causing them to fly into opposite sides of the trail. However, Naruto and Sasuke weren't expecting the two to dissolve into water. Naruto cursed under his breath when he was kicked into a bush and was followed by Sasuke.

The two brothers nodded, reconnected their chain and surrounded the tree where Hinata and Tazuna were hiding behind. They tightened the chain and tied Hinata and Tazuna to the tree.

"Y-You wouldn't hurt two p-pretty girls would y-you?" Hinata stuttered and the two Demon Brothers cocked their left eyebrow up before seeing Hinata and Tazuna disappear in a puff of smoke an being replaced with two busty and naked blonds with ponytails and whisker marks on their cheeks.

One blond winked and the other freed her hand, grabbed something from behind her back and blew a kiss to the two shocked Demon Brothers. They watched as a small heart floated near them until it started to light up. A closer looks reveals that the heart was actually a paper bomb that was now in between the two brothers and exploded.

The two blonds dispersed right before the paper bomb went off; the Demon Brothers, however, were not so fortunate. They were sent back until they hit a tree and were knocked unconscious.

Naruto laughed as he got out from the bushes and leaned on his knees. Sasuke walked out after him with a smirk of his own.

"It worked!" Naruto shouted as Hinata and Tazuna appeared from the same bushes as Naruto and Sasuke.

"G-Good job, N-Naruto-kun." Hinata praised and Naruto chuckled nervously with his hand behind his head.

"Hn." Naruto guessed that was Sasuke way of saying the same thing Hinata said.

"Not bad." Tazuna said with a reluctant praise.

"Not bad at all; I'm very proud of you three." The three turned to see Kakashi with the Demon Brothers tied on his shoulder.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto and Hinata said with relief.

"So you aren't dead huh?" Sasuke rhetorically asked.

"Nope, not yet anyways." Kakashi answered with an eye smile.

"K-Kakashi-sensei?" Kakashi looked at Hinata who was fiddling with her finger tips. "W-Why are you p-proud of me? I-I didn't do a-anything." She asked and he chuckled.

"Because, Hinata, you protected Tazuna while these two attacked. Even if you didn't do anything, that only means everything went well." He answered and hoped that would put the girl at ease; it sort of did.

"Yeah Hinata-chan, if we didn't beat those two, then I'm sure you would've protected the old geezer from those two." Naruto said, trying to help bring Hinata's confidence up; this one had a larger effect and he knew it when he saw Hinata's face brighten.

Naruto looked at Sasuke who had his arms crossed over his chest. Naruto cleared his throat and Sasuke looked at him with his left eyebrow raised. Naruto nodded his head towards Hinata and Sasuke shook his head. He elbowed him in the ribs and Sasuke doubled over.

"Hn, I guess." Sasuke said after recovering. "So, why did they attack us, Kakashi?" Sasuke asked.

"Well, they didn't go after you two, but they did try to get Hinata and/or Tazuna." Kakashi put the Demon Brothers on the ground next to him after tying them up and walked to Hinata and Tazuna, who both were nervous. "So, any of you ou two hiding something?" Kakashi asked with an eye smile, waiting for either for the two to snap.

"O-Ok, I confess, I took the c-cinnamon buns from K-Kurenai-sensei." Hinata said, hanging her head in shame. Everyone looked at her strangely.

"THAT WAS YOU?! She almost killed me when she thought it was me!" Kakashi said before calming down. "Ok then, you hiding something Tazuna?" Kakashi asked, this time, his eye's intense stare was torturing Tazuna.

"Ok, ok, I'll tell you." Tazuna said and Kakashi relaxed his stare.

"Do tell…"

**[*.*.Don't really feel like explaining that… You should already know why Tazuna lied.*.*]**

In a distant place, inside a hideout, a man with long, black hair and wheel like things adjacent to his ankles, sat leisurely with his vixen, enjoying her company. However, his enjoyment was put on hold when the entrance to his hideout was opened and three shadows stood in front of it. The man snarled.

"What the hell do you want?" Hiten, one half of the Thunder Brothers, asked as the shortest shadow stepped forward into the light.

"I assume you are Hiten, part of the Thunder Brothers." The man said and Hiten stood along with his vixen.

"What of it, who wants to know?" Hiten asked, his voice becoming less stable with every word.

"I am a wealthy man, Hiten. My word is law around here and my influence knows no limit." The man smirked as he saw that he had caught Hiten's curiosity.

"Join me, Hiten and we will make all the nations cower before our feet." Hiten looked at the short man and then sat down on his couch again.

"What do you expect from me?" The man titled his head slightly to the left which made Hiten assume he had a confused look on his face. "Do not take me for a fool. I know you don't want me just because I have power, you want me to use it; either for something… or someone."

"You are very clever, ha-ha, yes, I do want you to do a small service for me." Hiten scoffed at the man. "I don't need it to be down now but at a later time. It should be no problem with a man-excuse, demon, of your stature." Hiten smirked.

"Indeed, if that is all, then we have ourselves a deal." The short man walked up to Hiten and was about to shake his hand but Hiten retracted his hand. "However, my services don't come cheap." The short man seemed to glare at him before nodding.

"Of course, of course, I can assure you, you will receive your payment for your services. I will discuss the details of your job at a later time."

"Pleasure doing business with you." The short man was about to let go but Hiten still held onto the man's hand. He brought him down so he could whisper to the man's ear.

"Deceive me and I will take your head." The man gulped and nodded. Hiten let him go and watched in amusement as the man quickly ran out the door.

**[*.*.*.*]**

Naruto walked with anxiety and anticipation. After Tazuna confessed about lying to Konoha and telling them about how badly the Land of Waves needed the bridge he was currently constructing, team 7 just didn't have the heart to say no. That and the old man guilt tripped them into helping by telling them of his young grandson and daughter.

Now that they knew the truth, Naruto and his teammates couldn't help but be alert and just a little bit jumpy. The fact that the ferryman that brought them across the ocean was just as anxious didn't sit well with Naruto.

"AH!" Naruto shouted as he took out a kunai and threw it to the bushes where it started to rustle.

"Dobe!"

"What?! I heard something behind the bushes and caught someone's scent." Naruto said in his defense. He went to see what he had hit and gasped when he saw a white rabbit narrowly escaping the kunai's path. Its ears were spread apart and if Naruto didn't know any better, he thought it just used the bathroom.

"N-Naruto-kun." Hinata walked over to the white rabbit and held it in her hands, hoping to calm it down as it shook with fear.

"I-I'm sorry!" Naruto apologized as he stood in front of the rabbit. Kakashi was watching the rabbit as his single, visible eye narrowed.

Naruto's ears twitched at the same time Kakashi's instincts went on red alert.

"Get down!" Naruto and Kakashi shouted as Naruto gently tackled Hinata down and Kakashi brought Tazuna and Sasuke down with him as a giant zanbato fly over them and got itself stuck on a trees bark. Kakashi looked up and saw a man with his back turned to them standing on the hilt of the zanbato.

"Kakashi Hatake, fancy meeting you here." The gruff and harsh man said as he turned to face Kakashi.

"Zabuza Momochi, the feeling is mutual." Kakashi greeted but his tone was anything but welcoming.

"Sorry but I'm not here to fight you." Zabuza sets his sights on Tazuna. "That old man is mine!"

"Yeah right, over our dead bodies!" Naruto shouted and Sasuke hit him over the head.

"Don't give him any ideas, dobe!" Sasuke scolded and Naruto glared.

"Stay back, he's on a whole other level." Kakashi said as he walked in front of the group and had his hand on his headband over his left eye. "Zabuza, you're going to have to get past me first." Kakashi removed his headband from his left eye and revealed his hidden Sharingan eye. Zabuza smirked.

"Ah, I already get to see the famous Sharingan eye. I'm honored." Zabuza mocked from his place on the tree.

"You know Kakashi, when I was still in Kiri's ANBU Black Ops, I kept a bingo book on me at all times." Zabuza tilted his head back with pride. "The man who copied over a 1000 jutsu… Copy Ninja, Kakashi Hatake." Everyone exluding the two jonin looked at Kakashi in awe.

"A-A 1000 jutsu." Hinata stammered as her mind tried to register this fact.

"Enough talk!" Zabuza grabbed his zanbato and jumped off only to land on top of the water. "Let me kill the old man, Kakashi or do I have to get past you to get to him?" Kakashi didn't react to his question, just taking out a kunai and felling into a battle stance.

"Fine. **Ninja Art: Hidden Mist jutsu!**" A dense mist rolled over the land like the light of the morning sun.

"Stay close to Tazuna and be on guard!" Kakashi ordered. "In this fog, my Sharingan will be almost useless." Team 7 nodded as they huddled around Tazune, taking out kunai to defend. Kakashi looked around and Zabuza's laugh echoed around them.

Tired of the mind games, Kakashi surrounded himself with a lot of chakra and dispersed the fog around him and his charges. Sasuke was shaking with fear, the intensity of the two jonin's insane chakra surrounding him was making him wish he was dead; just to escape the pressure.

Hinata, though still scared, wasn't as bad as Sasuke. After being in the presence of a true demon like Sesshōmaru, Zabuza seemed to be another genin by comparison. Still, Zabuza was stronger than her and could kill her without so much as a second thought; that's what scared her.

Naruto, like Hinata, wasn't as frightened, especially after facing Sesshōmaru. Hell, he wasn't afraid at all; with his hanyō speed and reflexes, he didn't doubt he'd be able to get away alive. Though in a one on one fight, he knew he would be screwed. With his body ready to defend, Naruto waited for Zabuza to mess up somehow.

"Where to strike?" Naruto growled as his ears couldn't pinpoint where exactly Zabuza was. "Liver, lungs, spine, clavical vein, neck vein, brain, kidneys, heart."

"Come out you coward!" Naruto yelled but was immediately silenced when he felt someone appear behind him. He turned and stared wide eyed as Zabuza had his zanbato positioned to kill them. Kakashi turned and rushed over to them right before Zabuza could swing his zanbato. Kunai in hand, Kakashi thrusts it in Zabuza's gut and caused everyone to back away.

The Zabuza burst into water and fell to the floor.

"Sensei, behind you!" Naruto shouted and Kakashi looked back to see Zabuza right before he sliced him in half. He chuckled before stopping at seeing Kakashi turn to water as well.

"What?!"

"It's over." Kakashi placed his kunai on Zabuza's neck. Zabuza chuckled, confusing everyone.

"It's not over until somebody dies." Zabuza disappeared after turning into water and appeared behind Kakashi while swinging his zanbato. Kakashi ducked under the swing, barely avoiding it before Zabuza used his momentum to change his hold on his zanbato and kick Kakashi.

Zabuza ran after him and jumped, flying until he appeared before Kakashi and back handed him to fall into the ground. Kakashi groaned and let out an inaudible cry of pain when Zabuza brought his zanbato on his gut. The expression on Zabuza's face showed just how glad he was for doing what he just did. He wasn't that surprised when Kakashi vanished in a puff of smoke but he wasn't really expecting Kakashi to leave a log with a paper bomb in his place.

Zabuza jumped back just the bomb went off and looked around for Kakashi.

"**Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!**" Zabuza turned in time to see Kakashi running towards him while firing a fireball at him. Zabuza made quick hand signs and brought his right hand to his mouth.

"**Water Style: Raging Waves!**" A stream of water rushed out of Zabuza's mouth and intercepted the fireball. Steam arose from the conflicting elements and impaired Zabuza and Kakashi's vision, though Zabuza felt right at home.

Zabuza used this opportunity to sneak around Kakashi's defenses. He brought his zanbato to finish the job and would've succeeded if it wasn't for Naruto.

"**Iron Reaper Soul Stealer!**" Through pure instinct, Zabuza jumped away at the last second though not without getting a scratch on his left leg.

"You brat." As the steam cleared, Naruto was seen standing straight and stretching his hand.

"That was luck." Naruto said and would've attacked but Kakashi pushed him out of the way before charging at Zabuza.

"Stay back Naruto!" Kakashi ordered as he jumped in the air and tried to kick Zabuza multiple times before failing and having to retreat for the meantime. He was taking long breaths as he tried to catch his second wind, trying to think of a plan to end it before his team and Tazuna got seriously hurt. Kakashi jumped back onto the river and started making some hand signs.

"**Water Style: Giant Vortex Jutsu!**" Zabuza was about to move when he felt something hold him down. He looked at his feet to see two Narutos holding on to them.

"Damn it!" He looked back up to see a giant vortex of water head for him. Kakashi smiled when he saw Zabuza get hit by his jutsu. However, he was shocked to see a dome of ice protect Zabuza. The ice disappeared and beside Zabuza appeared a hunter-nin.

"I know you said not to get involved Zabuza-sama but I just couldn't see you get hit by that attack." The hunter-nin said. Kakashi's eye widened.

"Hn, whatever." Zabuza looked at Naruto who was seething. "Just deal with the brats."

"Actually Zabuza-sama, I think its best we retreat for now." Zabuza looked at the hunter-nin like he was crazy. "I have discovered some news that concerns us."

"You two aren't going anywhere." Kakashi ran at them with hand signs at the ready. Naruto was also running to them, his hands glowing as he prepared to attack them while trying to ignore Hinata and Sasuke's protests. However, Kakashi stopped first when he saw the Demon Brothers appear from the trees and throw some kind of smoke bomb on the floor.

"Naruto wait!" It was too late, Naruto couldn't stop fast enough as he disappeared into the smoke before Kakashi heard a thud come from the smoke.

"Until we meet again… Hatake." The smoke disappeared and Hinata gasped when she saw Naruto face down on the wet ground.

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata ran to him and bent down next to him. She softly shook him to wake him but he was unresponsive. "Please wake up, Naruto-kun." Hinata pleaded. Kakashi walked over to him and checked his pulse.

"It's ok Hinata, I think he's been knocked unconscious by the smoke… probably just sleeping gas or something." A second later, Kakashi's eyes rolled to the back of his head and he fell next to Naruto.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Sasuke and Tazuna walked up to the three.

"Come on, my house should be nearby." Tazuna picked up Kakashi and Sasuke picked up Naruto before heading for Tazuna's house

**[*.*.*.*]**

Kagome yawned and felt herself amiss in her current location. She looked around and noticed that she didn't know where she was. She got up and walked to the nearest exit, which happened to be a door leading to another room. She looked through the open door and saw Manten sitting on a couch with another guy and a woman beside him, talking about something.

"…we can have as many women as we want Manten. Why waste your time kidnapping that wench?" Kagome puffed her cheeks and would've marched into the room to slap Hiten but she remembered that she was in no position to do so.

"It matters not brother, we at least have dinner now." Kagome gasped silently as she headed back to the room, trying to find a way to escape. With no windows or other means to exit, she was pretty hopeless at this point. She decided to use a different approach as she concentrated her spiritual energy to her hands. She positioned both hands in front of her and pulled the right one back, parallel to the ground. Light appeared in the form of a bow and arrow…

_BOOM_

Manten and Hiten were surprised when they felt their hideout spontaneously shake from an explosion. They ran to the room where they heard the explosion come from and stopped at the entrance when they saw a giant, gaping hole on the farther wall and no girl.

"Manten," Hiten grabbed onto his brother's collar and glared at him. "This is your fault." Manten was sweating bullets.

"How is it my fault?" He asked, not really showing any bravery in his words or actions. Hiten's arms lit up with electricity and brought it up in a position to stab Manten, only for it to change position and go through his vixen's chest.

"Damn it!" Hiten let go of Manten and paced around the room. He let out a frustrated sigh as Manten composed himself.

"Do not worry brother, I will go search for the girl." Hiten shook his head.

"It's pointless now; she was really no use to us anyway. For now, we should rest, our employer said we might a big day ahead of us soon." Manten smirked, getting what his bother meant.

"I'm heading out brother; I am bored and need a new vixen." Without another word, Hiten left and left Manten alone.

Kagome ran as fast as she could, not risking looking back to see if she was being chased. She just ran as fast as her legs would carry her, right beside a river. After what seemed like forever, her legs finally caved in and she fell into the river, exhausted and almost unconscious. Kagome's last conscious thought was as followed,

'_Inuyasha… where are you?'_

Kagome, after losing consciousness, drifted away for a couple of seconds before the water around her froze and brought her above the frozen water.

A figure wearing a pink kimono walked over the frozen water and bent over Kagome. The figure put a gentle hand over Kagome's forehead and felt the heat radiating off it. The figure also noticed that she was shivering so he took off his shirt and put it over Kagome before the figure picked Kagome up in his arms and started to walk into the dark forest that refrained from being illuminated from the crescent moon.

**[*.*.*.*]**

Inuyasha smirked victoriously as he spotted a cabin only twenty meters ahead. He had found Kagome; her scent was strong and radiating off the cabin. Inuyasha walked up to the cabin and with his superior sense of smell, he could smell the stench of demons coming from the front of the door and sweet smell of Kagome coming from the back.

Instead of confronting the two demons and saving Kagome, Inuyasha decided to try and sneak Kagome out before bursting in and randomly attacking things until he sees Kagome. He guessed his new, developed common sense is all thanks to the chronically late scarecrow.

Moving to the back of the cabin, Inuyasha was surprised to see a gaping hole on the back of the cabin's wall. Kagome's scent was still fresh but oddly enough, it was going away from cabin. He guessed she was the one who made the hole and managed to escape.

"Kagome." Inuyasha muttered before following after Kagome's scent.

Multiple thoughts crossed Inuyasha's mind as he followed after Kagome's scent. One of many was if she was ok; she was kidnapped by the idiot brat on his shoulders and was kidnapped from him by the demon. Inuyasha growled at that thought; Kagome would be ok if it wasn't for the idiot on his shoulder.

Another thought was if it was possible that she was hurt somewhere. His heart skipped a beat at that thought and his thoughts stopped altogether when he imagined the possibility of her being dead. His feet stopped as he stood still beside the river, his heart raced and he tried to compose himself. After taking deep breaths, he realized that Kagome's scent was gone. He turned back and walked until he found Kagome's scent again.

"The river." He watched as the river flowed south and he began to wonder if, when she fell into the river, the river carried her south. With this as his only lead, he continued to follow the river with lingering hope that he would find Kagome.

He would never admit it but he needed to find Kagome, if only to calm himself down. Since she was taken by Shippo that fateful day a few days ago, Inuyasha could feel his restlessness starting to affect his thoughts. Kagome was the only thing that occupied his mind in every shape and form. He thought about her health, her wellbeing, and her in general.

It confused him to no end why she did; he had never felt such strong emotions before, not for anyone…

At least, not since…

"Hey you." Inuyasha stopped walking when he heard someone call him out. He turned his head slightly to see five men smirking at him, each wielding a type of sword or katana. Inuyasha scowled at them as they surrounded him.

"This is not a good time; leave me alone…" Inuyashe growled at them but the five only chukled.

"Oh, some white haired punk thinks he's so tough." One guy said and other agreed. It was at this time that Shippo rose from his slumber and yawned.

"Who's that? Are you babysitting?" Another guy asked and Shippo glared. He then felt Inuyasha pick him up and place him on the floor. The five men surrounding Inuyasha took out their weapons and fell into a battle stance.

Even in his bad mood, through his worry for Kagome; Inuyasha still managed to smirk as he took out his Tessaiga; finally, something to relieve his stress…

**[*.*.Next Day.*.*]**

Hinata sat beside Naruto, worried that he was suffering from whatever was in the gas he ran into.

After making it to Tazuna's house, he had graciously let team 7 stay at his house and gave Kakashi and Naruto a room to recover in. Kakashi had yet to awaken from his confrontation with Zabuza, the dangerous and still breathing missing-nin from Kirigakure. Naruto was in worse shape than Kakashi and that was saying something.

Hinata's eyes moved from Naruto's slowly rising chest to the other side of the room where Sasuke was staring intently at their sensei. Since finding out of Kakashi's Sharingan eye, Hinata noticed that Sasuke was less talkative than normal and more vigilant of Kakashi, almost like he'd disappeared if Sasuke took his eyes off him.

She assumed he was just curious about Kakashi's possession of his family's dōjutsu. No one besides Sasuke and his brother should have the Sharingan considering that his brother had massacred his entire clan but oddly enough let Sasuke live. Hinata shuddered as she wondered what would happen if someone in her family snapped and started to kill everyone.

It was a frightening thought so Hinata shook it out of her head. She turned her attention back to Naruto who's shallow breath was the only sound heard in the room. Her eyes fixated on Naruto's fox ears that remained uncharacteristically still; she missed when they twitched at every sound.

She looked back at Sasuke who was still staring, almost glaring, at Kakashi as he slept. When she thought it was safe, she bent over Naruto and started to rub his soft fox ears between her thumb and index finger. When she heard Sasuke sigh, she removed her hands from Naruto's ear and sat straight near Naruto, just staring at him, hoping Sasuke hadn't seen what she was doing.

She heard footsteps walk to the door, the door open and then the footsteps leaving and closing the door. When it was quite again and she was sure no one would notice, she continued to play with Naruto's ears while she silently prayed for his and Kakashi's recovery. Her eyes drooped a little as sleep tried to consume her; she hadn't slept since the night they arrived at Tazuna's house which was twenty-four hours ago.

She momentarily blacked out and came too when she felt herself falling. She opened her eyes but wished she didn't because now she was almost face-to-face with him. Her nose was only two inches away from his nose and she could hear the air escape his nose.

"Ah, young love." Hinata's face blushed as she sat up and saw Kakashi with his head turned in her direction and was eye smiling. "The most innocent and oblivious love there is." Hinata's mind raced as she tried to come with an excuse for being so close to Naruto.

"It's ok Hinata, you don't need to explain, everyone already knows." Kakashi said as his only visible eye moved to the ceiling and stayed there. "Everyone but the knucklehead himself." Hinata just stared with disbelief as Kakashi seemingly ignored her incredulous stare. With a serious look, Kakashi turned his eye to Hinata who flinched at the intensity.

"I'll tell you this from experience Hinata; if you don't tell him soon, one day, he might not be here to tell him anything at all." For a brief moment, Hinata saw regret and sadness flash over Kakashi's glazed eye before he refocused his vision and looked away.

"Ba…boon…" Hinata and Kakashi looked at Naruto who slurred out the almost incoherent word and was sweating bullets. "Bees… Se… Sesshōmaru…" His incoherent words spooked the two in the room as they sat in silence, waiting for Naruto to continue. As Hinata watched with a sense of helplessness, she noticed that Naruto's once calm expression changed to a sad and angry one. His brow was scrunched and his eyes under his eyelids were constantly moving from his vivid dream.

"Akatsuki… GET AWAY FROM HER!" Naruto shouted the last part as he sat up and panted heavily. Hinata put a hand on Naruto's shoulder and tried to calm him down. Naruto flinched and raised his hand to punch whoever was touching him but stopped when he met Hinata's worried face.

"Hi-Hinata-chan…" Naruto's words were hoarse and soft, almost like a whisper. The look on his face and the tone of his voice scared Hinata because he sounded like a person who's broken and saw his world being taken from him in front of his own eyes.

"I see you finally woke up Naruto." Naruto looked passed Hinata and saw Kakashi looking at him. "Must have been some dream." Naruto looked down at his shaking arms and took deeper breaths to calm himself down. He closed his eyes and tried to reduce the amount of thoughts racing through his mind. Hinata was just staring at him, hoping that he would be ok soon.

After finally controlling his breathing and shaking, Naruto opened his eyes and he looked away from Hinata. He stared at the empty, egg-shell white wall in front of him with his slitted, blue eyes.

With her lavender eyes, Hinata watched as Naruto stared at the wall with a pensive and disturbed look. She wanted to talk to him, ask him if he was ok but she decided to wait until he felt ready to talk. Her blush, which had slowly receded, returned when once in a while, Naruto's eyes moved to her for only a second before quickly looking at something else.

Hinata thought she was going delusional from the lack of sleep because she saw Naruto's tan cheeks color with his blood from under his skin. Finally, after becoming anxious from her worry, Hinata cleared her throat.

"Ano… N-Naruto-kun?" Naruto was hesitant to look up but after finally meeting her eyes, he found it hard to keep the contact. Hinata noticed that and was hurt by it.

"Y-Yeah," Naruto cleared his throat, punched his chest lightly and mentally scowled himself for stuttering. "Yeah, what is it?" Naruto asked, his voice still hoarse.

"A-Are you ok?" Hinata asked and Naruto once again hesitated.

"Yeah, why shouldn't I be?" Naruto asked, laughing and smiling nervously while rubbing the back of his head.

"Because you were knocked out by gas." Naruto glared at Kakashi who was still eyes smiling but was looking at the ceiling instead of him.

"I-It's just that," Naruto looked at Hinata again when she started talking. "Y-You seemed… t-troubled. A-Are you sure you're o-ok?" She asked and Naruto couldn't help but think of his dream. This caused him to look away with a blush matching Hinata's.

"I just have to use the bathroom." Naruto tried to stand but his legs gave underneath him and he fell on his knees. Hinata moved to help him and used herself as leverage for him to stand. "Thanks." Hinata nodded with a shy smile; Naruto immediately looked away causing the smile to go away.

As Kakashi watched the two leave, he turned his head to the window and stared at the semi-cloudy sky. His mind drifted off to Naruto's unconscious words; one word in particular made the back of his hairs stand up.

"Akatsuki, what does that mean?" Kakashi mumbled as he sat up though not without regretting it as he felt his world spin. Shaking off his feeling of nausea, Kakashi flexed his hands and arms, watching as his muscles moved under his skin.

Putting aside Naruto's odd occurrence, Kakashi began to plan out a training schedule for his team. With the threat of Zabuza and his three lackeys still out there, it would only be a matter of time before they would attack again. In which case, it would be better that while they didn't guard Tazuna, they might as well get some training done.

Letting out a sigh, Kakashi struggled to stand and leave the room as well and hopefully avoid Sasuke's predictable questions. He stopped and placed his left hand over his right eye that was covered by his headband. The story behind his Sharingan was not a fond one.

Naruto sighed as he came out of the bathroom. He was glad Hinata was waiting outside the bathroom for him. He knew she was worried for him but sometimes, it could go a little overboard. Still, he was glad at least someone really cared for him.

With his mind back on Hinata, his mind replayed the scene from his second dream that managed to make him feel multiple emotions.

_The setting is best described as the aftermath of a giant war. Nothing stood above five feet off the ground and the trees that once stood tall and proud were laying the floor, scorched and in pieces. Smoking craters decorated the barren battle field along with pebbles that were once strong and sturdy boulders._

_Indigo colored the eastern side of the sky while an angry red and orange colored the western side. Just as the sun was about to be swallowed whole by the horizon, two shadowy figures lay on top of a single hill, one in the arms of the other. Off to their side, at the base of the hill, were sixteen other silhouettes, two of which were holding on to each other. _

Tell her not to go…

"_Don't go." Of the sixteen silhouettes on the base of the hill, five were crying while the rest mourned. "Please don't go."_

"_I-I won't…" From the small amount of sunlight left, lavender orbs were seen, moist and full of love. Cerulean eyes stared back, with just as much love and moisture but also had regret. With a dry chuckle, an older looking Naruto wiped his eyes with his left sleeve while still holding an older looking Hinata in his right arm._

Tell her not to cry…

"_Don't cry." He said with a faint smile which was replied with a giggle from the girl in his arms._

"_I-I won't…"_

Tell her I'll be by her side, all she has to do is call…

"_You know I'll always be there for you… right?" Hinata nodded slowly and shakily raised her hand to place it on Naruto's cheek. "All you have to do is say the word."_

Tell her something in my heart needs her more than even clowns need the laughter of the crowd…

_With a deep breath, Naruto lost himself again as more tears flowed from his eyes._

"_I need you Hinata… more than the air I breathe." He felt his heart break when her eyes were starting to close a little. _

Tell her not to go…

"_Stay with me Hinata-hime… please!" Naruto hugged Hinata as he felt her become colder. He ignored the warm blood running down his arms from her chest and back._

Tell her nothing if not this; all I want to do is kiss her…

"_Naruto-kun…" Naruto moved back from Hinata to see her crying eyes and beautiful smile. "I l-love you."_

"_I love you, too." Naruto sobbed as moved down and captured Hinata's lips for what he feared was the last time. Her cold yet inviting and luscious lips felt heaven to Naruto. However, heaven on Earth, like hell on Earth, didn't last as long as the real thing when he felt Hinata's body go limp._

"_AH!" Naruto felt something pierce his heart and gut. The momentum caused him to be flung away from Hinata and against the fallen tree's bark. He looked down and saw two kunai piercing his skin and possibly his organs. Looking up, his world turned red when he saw a man wearing a orange-swirled mask and a torn up black cloak with red clouds._

"_Akatsuki." Naruto growled as he tried to stand but his body was unresponsive. The masked man ignored Naruto as he bent down and caressed Hinata's cheek. Naruto's blood boiled when he heard the man chuckle to himself._

"_GET AWAY FROM HER!" Naruto shouted as his he felt his demon blood start to overcome him and his world became dark…_

His hands started to shake again as the scene went blank and his was back in the real world. He took deep breaths again and put his hand on his chest, trying to ease his quickly beating heart.

"Is that… is that my imagination…?" He asked no one in particular and if he were honest with himself, he hoped the answer would be yes. He walked down the hall and saw Hinata outside their temporary room. With the image of Hinata's future self in his mind, Naruto could barely look at Hinata without seeing that. For some reason, it always made his heart race.

When their eyes connected, he could feel his heart race faster, his palms start to sweat and his mind think 1000 thoughts per second. It was very faint but Naruto's sensitive nose caught a smell coming from Hinata; it was different than he remembered and… and he liked it. It was sort of similar of how Kagome smelt like when Inuyasha was near but it was still different and wasn't as alluring as Hinata's.

Naruto sighed; why was his life getting so complicated…

**[*.*.*.*]**

"Alright guys, time to train." Kakashi said while his charges yawned or stared indifferently at the ground.

"What are we doing up early Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked as he stretched his arms. He then looked around. "The sun's not even up yet. You know it's too early to do anything when you're up before the sun."

"I agree with the dobe." Naruto glared at Sasuke who still looked at the ground indifferently.

"Alright, alright, calm down you two. I know it's early but you know what they saw: 'The early bird gets the worm'." Team 7 looked at Kakashi like he just told them the Hokage had gone crazy and was handing out pictures of burnt toast.

"Look, I'm tired too but we need to train; there's no telling when Zabuza will show up again." Kakashi didn't really want them to know that but it was still too early in the morning to be thinking clearly. No matter how many times he pulled an all-nighter or woke up early during his years in the ANBU Black Ops, after three years of not doing that, he was a little rusty, so to speak.

"If you cooperate, that only makes this so much easier, got it?" Team 7, now more awake than they were a minute ago, nodded. "Ok, since we finished the tree climbing practice last week, I think it's time we went up a notch." Kakashi turned and walked up to the edge of the land where the beginning of the water started.

"This is the water walking practice and as soon as you three finish this, we'll begin with the real training." Kakashi said after he turned and eye smiled.

"So, how do we do this?" Sasuke asked.

"It's fairly simple; unlike the tree climbing practice, the water walking practice involves emitting a constant stream of chakra from the bottom of your feet and using the repellent repellant force to walk across the water's surface. This is a lot harder than the tree climbing because you'll be constantly changing the amount of chakra you're using to stay on the surface.

"At one point, you'll get so used to walking on water that it'll be instinct." Kakashi finished explaining and his team nodded, except for Naruto. He managed to fall asleep while standing, his head tilted to the left and a snot bubble coming from his nose.

"Zzz… zzz…"

"Naruto-kun." Hinata lightly tapped Naruto's shoulder and his snot bubble burst as he babbled while looking around.

"Huh? Oh, Kakashi-sensei, are you done?" Kakashi sweat dropped. "Don't worry, I'll get this down in no time at all." Naruto declared with a thumbs up and a closed left eye.

"Right… ok then, whenever you're ready, you can start." Team 7 nodded and walked to the edge near Kakashi and watched as the small ripples moved the water in front of them. None moved or made a sound as they continued to do nothing but watch.

"You go first." Naruto said, nudging Sasuke.

"Hn, why don't you?" Sasuke said, pushing Naruto forward. Naruto moved his lower body back and his upper body forward while flailing his arms around, trying to keep his balance. After successfully not falling into the water, Naruto let out a relieved sigh. He turned his sights to Sasuke and shoved him. After doing the same as Naruto, Sasuke glared back.

"Don't push me." Sasuke growled and Naruto pushed him again, putting some distance between them.

"Stop acting like a badass and just go." Naruto demanded and Sasuke pushed him back. They got in a short fight before they stopped from the sound of laughter. They look to see Kakashi eye smiling and looking out to the ocean. Before they could ask, Kakashi pointed to the ocean. The two males followed the finger until they saw Hinata barely above the surface of the water.

Her ankles were submerged and her balance looked like it could be lost by a gentle breeze. Nevertheless, she managed to get the concept of the task and was taking baby steps as she slowly walked away from land.

Naruto was about to yell something when Kakashi appeared over him and slapped a hand over his mouth. Naruto's muffled cries were heard from underneath Kakashi's gloved hand as Hinata continued to keep her balance. She suddenly lost her balance and was about to fall when Kakashi suddenly appeared behind her and kept her from falling into the water.

"T-Thank you, K-Kakashi-sensei." Kakashi nodded and brought her back to land. Hinata shook the water from her shoes and felt the cold air brush against her toes.

"Well, good luck you guys and try not to get too wet." Kakashi said as he disappeared in a puff of smoke. Naruto and Sasuke looked at each other before nodding and both immediately knew; loser has to sleep outside for the night.

**-Ten Hours Later-**

Hinata panted heavily as she sat on the base of a nearby tree, watching as her other teammates continued to try to outdo each other. She had gotten better at walking on water since she first started; she could now keep her ankles out of the water. Her steps were slow and careful and since the beginning, she had only fallen in the water about twenty times.

After her last fall, she decided to take a break and rest. She was amazed that she was better than the other two but she figured that it had to do with her practice of the Jyuken. For once, she was glad her father forced her to do other chakra control exercises.

Once again, Hinata was inspired by Naruto's persistence and never-say-die attitude. She had lost count of how many times he had fallen but the last number she remembered was fifty-two. Still, he kept going without stop and could now successfully keep his ankles five inches under the surface. Many would not see the accomplishment there but when he started out, Naruto was up to his knees.

Granted, Sasuke was somewhere between her and Naruto, at least Naruto kept trying and trying. Sasuke took a break after being able to stay above the surface for a good five seconds, which was about three hours after they started. Since then, the only break Naruto took was to use the bathroom, eat the food delivered by Tazuna's grandson, made by his daughter, and so he could think more clearly though those never lasted too long.

Her eyes never left Naruto as he coughed out some water and stood on all fours just a few feet away from her. His dark orange shirt clung to his body and Hinata would find herself staring at his chest and back at random times. For a thirteen year old, Naruto was pretty muscular in Hinata's opinion, and so was Sasuke. She supposed it was because they always trained in their free time.

'_Oh, there he goes again.'_ Naruto moved to start again and Hinata saw the smirk on his face as he was able to walk three feet into the ocean before falling. Hinata shivered as an unseen breeze past by and brushed against her wet clothes and exposed skin.

When Naruto came out of the water, he saw Hinata shivering from the cold. Even though the sun was out, that didn't really mean it was warm. It was decent out but after spending ten hours plus in water, it could get pretty cold. Besides, sometimes the sun would hide behind passing cloud and a strong breeze would come.

Naruto moved to his warm and dry, navy blue jacket and placed it over Hinata who jumped at the sudden action. She looked up to see Naruto's smiling face.

"Don't want you to get sick." He said, answering her unasked question before going to continue his training. Hinata watched him go with a blush and a smile; he was always there for her.

'_He's always so nice to me; I have to do something for him, to show him I care. But what?'_ She thought as she stood and leaned against the tree. The warmth of Naruto's jacket made her feel warm as well; almost up to the point that she forgot she was wet.

"Alright guys, you can take a break." Hinata jumped at hearing Kakashi speak. Sasuke walked back to land and took off his blue shirt to remove the excess water. Naruto did the same except he got on all fours and shook his body of the water, like a dog would do. Hinata giggled as she turned her head away and put her hand up to stop the water from getting on her face.

"Yes, well, good job you three. Especially you Hinata, you've improved the most." Hinata blushed at the praise.

"Take this time to recover and do what you want and we'll start this again tomorrow after Tazuna's shift." The three nodded and walked back to their temporary home, two were going to get some rest and one was going to go out on the town.

**[*.*.*.*]**

Hinata stared in awe and sadness as she walked by so many people sitting on sidewalks. Majority were adults either drunk out of their mind and unconscious and others that were too tired to even stand. There were a few kids and she was surprised that some were as hyper and playful as others. Considering how tragic their life seemed, they still found a reason to smile.

That was a characteristic she liked in people; that was one of the many characteristics she liked in Naruto.

Walking into a store, Hinata saw very little that she could get for Naruto. Of course, at first she thought of getting him ramen till he puked but that wasn't a very attractive idea. With no other ideas, she decided something else would suffice; the question, though, was what his gift would be.

There were a couple of dirty plush toys, candles, plates, cups, home essentials, and others in that category. With a sigh, she walked out of the store and continued to find something to buy Naruto.

After five stores, Hinata still had no luck finding anything to give Naruto. Occasionally she would buy something, just so the town's economy could flourish if only a little, but nothing she could give to Naruto. She had bought a toy cat that had the softest fur she had ever felt and ended up giving it to a little girl she saw eyeing the toy. It didn't bother her that she was wasting some of her allowance; she was happy to if it meant making at least one person happy.

"Ey you." Hinata stopped to see a rather crazy-looking man with a brown jacket covering his entire body looking around suspiciously. His black, curly haired moved with ever movement the man made.

"Need sumthin'?" The man asked and Hinata was a little wary of him. Even though some were too weak to steal or even act, the state of the economy could reduce people to do desperate things. Hinata knew this and it was not fear that gripped her, just caution. As his eyes scanned the area around him, he opened his coat and Hinata saw a sword.

The sheath wasn't anything special, just really long and black. The hilt was wrapped in white cloth and the pommel was a blood red.

"This sword is said to be made years ago by a master artisan. He was said to be an old man riding a black bull and carrying a hammer as long as he was." The man told as her eyes continued to scan the sword.

"I-I don't know." Hinata said, unsure of what to make of the man and the sword. The vibe she got from the sword were anything but pleasant; if anything, it felt corrupted and evil, powerful, yet tainted.

"Come on, I'm practically giving this sword to you. If you are not happy with that then how about this…?" The man grabbed something from his pocket and when he opened his closed hand, he produced a round, pink jewel that shone from the sun above them. This immediately caught Hinata's attention.

Even with its pink tint, Hinata saw darkness inside the jewel, almost like it was tainted with years and years of evil and corruption.

"W-What is that?" She asked and the man smiled.

"This, young lady, is the legendary Sacred Jewel." Just by the name, Hinata was astonished by it.

"This is said to be worth thousands, even millions of ryo but for now, both the jewel and the sword can be yours for fifty-five ryo. What do ya say?" The man asked and Hinata looked at the jewel and the sword. Reluctantly, Hinata nodded and gave the man the last of her money and grabbed the sword and jewel. Immediately, the jewel's darkness disappeared and its glow brightened but Hinata wasn't looking at the jewel but at the man who ran away as soon as Hinata got her items.

Hinata started her trip back to Tazuna's house to hide her new things and give them to Naruto later.

Meters away from his last customer, the man ran to the back of the various buildings where he saw no one. He laid down beside the back of a building and started to count his new found fortune.

"You." The man flinched as he hid his money behind his back and searched for the random voice.

"Me?" A silhouetted appeared in the shades of the trees and long, silver hair was seen among the silhouettes pants. To the man, the silhouetted looked oddly dressed, much like a foreigner.

"I heard you hold something I want in your possession; the Sacred Jewel." The man scoffed as he brought out his money and continued to count it.

"Sorry, you're too late, someone already bought it off me." The man said and then laughed. "Besides, the Sacred Jewel is only a myth. It does not exist." Before the man could tell the silhouette to leave him, he was pushed against the wall and was held up in the air by his neck. When looked down, the last thing he saw before his world went black was a crescent moon.

**

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That's it... Sorry for any grammar/spelling mistakes....**

**Again, sorry that its taken me too long to update and when it does take me a while to update.... Can't wait till spring break next week... I'm gunna type my fingers off!**

**Sorry if the time is off but basically, Inuyasha is following Manten's scent even though its faint and where their hideout is at... well, I'll tell you later..**

**Seriously... its hard to type up chapters when you got school breathing down your neck... Does any one want to do a research paper on the Auschwitz and then send it to me so I can work on my stories? If you do, let me know...**

**As far as I can tell, the Naruto manga is going down hill... After Naruto FINALLY comes back home, he's only a few feet from Hinata but they don't say a word to each other... I blame hinata too for not saying anything but she's shy so she has an excuse... Naruto though, I'm starting to lose my patience with him... I personally can't see how Naruto will save Sasuke... I don't know why he tries anymore...**

**Bleach... Well, it's moved up, right over Naruto since it's actually getting more interesting than Naruto... Seriously, Kishi is babying Sasuke... The fact that he gots Itachi's eyes now doesn't help... AH! He needs to die... unless I know for sure Naruto is going to end up with Hinata and either Sasuke dies horribly or becomes good again, the anime is going to slowly, but surely let me down...**

**One thing, and don't judge me for this but, I am starting to think that hinata won't end up with Naruto............. I really hate myself for it but its getting harder to see....**

**EVER FREAKING TIME NARUTO AND SAKURA ARE TOGETHER, SAKURA IS LOOKING AT NARUTO WITH FREAKING GOOGLY EYES!!! STOP LOOKING AT HIM SAKURA! YOU HAD YOUR CHANCE!!!!**

**Sorry for that but it just angers me... Sakura had more than a lifetime's worth of chance with the idiot and only until now, only until Sasuke has gone insane, only until Hinata FINALLY confess, only until the world is in the brink of enslavement, Sakura FINALLY decides to give Naruto the googly eyes...**

**AH! so infuriating...**

**Sigh....**

**OH the dream! Haha sorry, couldn't help but put at least some Naruhina-ness... AW! I just want it to happen so badly! Should you think that Naruto's dream will come true? Who's to say... Maybe it'll happen just like the dream tells... Its less work for me... Eh.... By the way, the words that are not italicized are song lyrics of "Tell Her This" by Del Amitri....**

**Mad that I went with the Wave mission? Too bad, I was going to make one up but I decided that it would be better to use it later.... When relationships have been established and stable....**

**So yeah, I had my doubts but I finally decided to get the Shikon Jewel involved... Why? Cuz I don't know how to get Naraku involved without it... And the sword.............. *yawn* I'm tired... I'm gunna sleep for *looks at wristwatch* twelve hours or so... night! or morning... depending on when you read this...**

**Anyways, I'm done ranting...**

**Next Chapter: Good v.s Evil; the bridge that connects them...**

**Till next time!**

******Good luck with whatever and if you got a problem with me or one of my stories, please feel free to: Deal with it, Get over it or Choke on it!**  



	15. Author Note and Sneak Peaks!

**To ZZZ:**

**Haha, oh you wanna laugh do you, ya little piece of shit? Haha oh, I'll give you something to laugh at, ya fucking bastard!**

**You think its hilarious that I want Naruto and Hinata to end up together while Hinata doesn't do shit? You want me to make someone in the story tell her she's a piece of shit just cuz she hadn't done shit? **

**Listen closely masputo pendejo porque no lo voy a repitir...**

**I'm tired of your negative ass bothering me... Go jump off a bridge, play Russian roulette with a bullet in ever socket, or maybe to a lesser extent, just stop reading and reviewing all together... I can promise you this, NO ONE WILL MISS YOUR NEGATIVE COMMENTS!! At least, i sure as hell won't...**

**But before you do _[which I doubt you'll do] _answer me this....**

**Can you see into the future? Can you tell what I have planned, what I'm going to do before I do it for this story? **

**Oh, you can?!**

**Well, let me know when I'm going to die... Let me know when the world will end... Let me know when life stops being so troublesome... Oh and please, please, please tell me Where Waldo is...**

**Surely, if you can see where I'm going with this story before I even do, you can tell me that, right?**

***Gasp* **

**You can't?! **

**Damn, that sucks..........**

**You fucking disgust me....**

**You and everyone of those anonymous flamers that are too much of a pussy to either actually sign on and tell it to the author's face just how horrible their story is or just to not use cuss words in their reviews... Is it that hard to say something without cuss words?**

**Oh and don't bother bitching to me, saying "Oh but you're cussing right now... What makes you so different?"**

**Don't worry, I got an answer for that... It's cuz I didn't start this... you did.... I didn't write an author's note cussing you out... No, in fact, I didn't care what you did as long as it didn't involve me at all... But no, for some reason that only you could come up with, you decided to try to bring me down with your lame ass review.... **

**""...Theres still nothing happening with it! in fact the only difference between your Hinata and Kishimoto's is that yours just happens to observe whats going on!""**

**Oh, you think? I'm sorry, did you want Hinata to become a competent kunoichi and actually be able to tell Naruto how she feels??A few months after coming out of the academy and with the problem at home?? I'm so sorry I couldn't do that... That was a stupid mistake on my part... Who was I to think that she had to work for her strengths, her confidence?**

**Clearly, she had a supporting father in this story.... I'm so sorry to you and everyone... Maybe in the new chapter, I'll have Hinata magically become the new Tsunade and then after that, Kami herself?**

**I'll try again next time, ZZZ... **

**"...Dont even have the gall to say you want them to be together if you won't even let Hinata grow or do anything for the person she loves...I mean really look at this shit you write Kakashi being proud of her for nothing and then you say shes improved the most...We both know shes not actually going to do anything so why do you bother justifying it? tell her shes a fucking piece of shit ninja and if she wants to be with Naruto shes going to need to be stronger...You know why? because there is no fucking way shes going to be able to survive the fight with akatsuki without having her ass saved by Naruto every other second..Oh wait thats exactly what your going to do and then call it a romantic moment...Haha dont make me laugh this isnt anything but just giving a girl a name and saying shes naruto it would make no difference what her name was or who she was because the result would be the same."**

**Oh, my good sir, I do have the gall to say that I want them together... Oh I surely do, I promise you that...**

**I know we're at our 15th chapter now but this is still technically the beginning of the story and not much has happened that should change her a lot... The most I can do for Hinata's character development at the moment is have her hang out with Naruto, getting out of her shell slowly but surely... When it starts getting more troublesome like after the Wave arc and before the Chunnin Exams, I promise you she'll get better.... **

**Considering how this is the first time they encountered someone of a higher rank than them, I'd be damn proud of my team for being so collective, each and everyone of them... And you know what, by what I read, I'm guessing you would be the kind of person to bring someone down for the tiniest mistake they made... No matter the size, imperfection of any sort would not be tolerated by you, huh?**

**And do you remember what the three were doing when Kakashi told Hinata she was improving the most? You don't? Well I'll tell you, they were practicing the water walking technique... And if you don't remember from there, Sasuke and Naruto were still trying to get the hang of it while Hinata was taking a break for actually staying on top of the water without having her ankles sink into it...**

**I didn't make Kakashi say that to say she is improving in everything, just in this particular thing... So before you start bitching about something, get your shit straight cuz it will come back at you, you maricon....**

**Again with your words of wisdom.... You know what, you're right... I was planning on having Hinata fight the Akatsuki, then have her butt saved by Naruto countless times and say its fluff.... **

**Incredible....**

**Amazing....**

**Your stupidity knows no bounds and honestly, nothing else you can say can shock me anymore....**

**Little pieces of mierda like you have no room to talk down on me... I don't know everything but I'm guessing you don't have an account, do you? I honestly didn't think so... If you do, let me know so I can see if you've written a story... I'm sure if you did, it'd be the best writing on this site.... Considering how well you can catch plot holes and then, in a very juvenile manner, tell the author about it with a cuss word here and a cuss word there, who knows how well it'd be written...**

**I'm no better than you are, I know this, I have sunken down to your level and I'll let you know... I don't give a damn...**

**I didn't have the best day today... I've had one of the worst possible days in a while, not counting the death of someone close to me... However, believe it or not, your review was a fucking high point of my day... Sad, ne? I'll tell you why though...**

**I got something to take my frustrations out on...**

**Of course, i know after reading this, you'll retort back, saying god knows what and quite frankly, I still don't give two shits... Everyone has anger and need to push off to someone... Since I'm pushing mine's to you, why not push back, ne ZZZ?**

**I wonder why you use that as your 'penname'... Is that what happens to everyone around you when you talk? Is that how your personality is? A snore? So boring that even you put yourself to sleep.... Is that why you feel the need to harass me? To harass some of the other great authors I've come across? Yes, I've seen your work in your reviews...**

**Hahaha very childish in my opinion... Oh no, I'm not talking about you ZZZ, though your reviews seem to be a cry for attention [_I'd advise visiting a therapist.._]... I'm talking about myself...**

**I know I'm no better than you, you happen to have caught me at a bad time... **

**I honestly do feel sorry for you... ****No life, at least not much of one to come bitch to me about my story and its mistakes... Do you have confidence in yourself or do you need to bring people down to make yourself feel better? Do you need negativity more than even clowns need the laughter of the crowd?**

******Oh you bet your ass you do... If not, then I'm sorry I'm wrong but if you don't want people accusing you of that than stop acting like that...**

******Tell me I need to make Hinata better and not treat her like a little girl who doesn't even know how to say her own name... That me I need her character to develop more before I make Naruto get with her...**

******BUT don't tell me to tell her she's a crappy ninja and that if she don't get her shit together that she is always gunna be a fucking failure....**

******what you are is a waste of space, of blood, skin and soul... Obvious, you have no brain to waste considering how you decided to approach my mistakes in your review...**

******No, I have no common sense, not anymore, you wasted it away with your negativity...**

******Thank you, however... I guess the saying is true... there always is a diamond in the rough or whatever...**

******In the pile of shit that is your review, I guess I did find a diamond and for that, I will thank you, ZZZ...**

******I'm done, I'm completely wiped out from my day and from your shit...**

******No matter what you say, I will continue writing, I won't stop until I'm done, no matter what obstacle you put in my way... Take that in whatever manner you want, bastard, as long as I know what I mean, I'm good...**

**By the end of the day, I'm sure I would lose possibly everyone's respect for this outburst and I'm sorry for it I understand if you stop reading any of my stories after this... I just want everyone to know that I'll try not to go berserk again... Honestly, I don't usually go this crazy when someone flames my stories... I don't even bother finishing them... I just delete them, dust my hands, and continue on with my day...**

**This particular one, I just couldn't let go and again, I'm sorry for it...**

**I don't know why but I'm not going to delete the flame.... at least, not yet... For some reason, if you wanna check out the flame, be my guest... Some people do read flames and... well I don't know what happens after that but I know some people do read flames....**

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******To everyone, I'm sorry for wasting your time... I needed to let out some frustration and unfortunately for me, I can't contact the pussy in any other way....**

******Hopefully this sneak peak for Naruto Uzumaki: Shinigami Chronicles will make it up to you though I hardly think its enough.... Maybe another sneak peak for another story... maybe... It probably won't make sense to some who haven't read the story so if you want, you can skip it, I got another surprise further down...**

******Please enjoy and I don't own anything besides the clothes on my back and the computer I'm using...**

*******This story is about Naruto becoming a shinigami after dying.... **

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Inside the kitchen, Orihime clutched her chest as Rukia jumped in from the window.

"D-Don't do that…" Orihime said as she got her breath to even out. Rukia just chuckled and then took out something from her pocket.

"I got it." She said cheerfully and Orihime raised an eyebrow as she saw a small, black leather bag in Rukia's hand.

"Got what?" Rukia tensed as she remembered that Orihime didn't know about her plan.

"Uhm… that… special spice you asked for. Remember?" Rukia said with a nervous smile. Orihime went into a thinking pose before smiling.

"Oh yeah, thanks!" She said as she grabbed the small bag and emptied its contents into the pot where she was making Ichigo's lunch.

"Well, I'll see ya later!" Rukia jumped out the open window and jumped, landing on the roof.

"I did my part, now all that's left is for Ichigo to actually eat the food." Rukia then sweat dropped. "Maybe I should make the food…"

**[*.*.Hollow Tree.*.*]**

_'I should tell him… there's no reason not to…'_ Yuki thought as she sat besides the still unconscious Naruto. She softly caressed his whiskered cheek and blushed.

_'He still acts the same… thank goodness…' _Yuki sighed as Naruto shifted in his sleep and rolled to his side, facing Yuki.

_'Still… would he get made when I tell him?' _She thought depressingly. _'And Kimiko-sama… she said she'd really hurt Naruto-kun if I told him. Oh, Naruto-kun, what would you do in my position?'_

She looked at him intensely as she asked herself that question, hoping he had mentally heard her.

"Hinata…chan…" Yuki gasped as she saw Naruto's face contort to a disturbed expression. "No… don't take her… STOP!" Naruto yelled and snapped his eyes wide with a few tears in his eyes. He stared at the space in front of him as he tried to calm himself down. He growled and sat up and grabbed his head.

"Damn it…" He whispered. Naruto wondered why he had been having so many bad dreams, most of them having to do with Hinata's and his death. Each one was different from the last, more blood, more destruction… more tears.

"N-Naruto-kun?" Naruto looks up and his deep blue eyes connect with pale blue ones. "A-Are you ok?" She asked and Naruto sighed before putting on a fake smile.

"Yeah, just a bad dream is all." He answered but Yuki wasn't convinced.

"A-Ano… w-who is… H-Hinata?" She asked, a little anxious to hear his answer. Naruto looked at her before looking away.

"She's my best friend, when I was alive." Naruto answered with a nostalgic feel in his voice. "Well, that's not completely true, I barely knew her and sometimes I didn't know she was there. She was really quiet and sometimes, she would act a little weird." Yuki looked down but Naruto was too entranced in his thoughts too notice.

"But…" Yuki looked up expectantly. "She was the nicest girl I ever met. I don't know if it's a good word for it but she was cute. I guess… I don't know, I don't exactly know how to use those kinds of words." Yuki blushed but again, Naruto was oblivious.

"Anyways, she's the best friend I ever had… in fact, the only one I had. She even liked me, I mean, like like, ya know?" Naruto asked and Yuki nodded faintly.

"Hey, are you ok?" Naruto asked and Yuki nodded again.

"W-Well… w-w-what about y-you? D-Did you like her t-too?" Yuki asked and sweat rolled down the side of her face. Naruto sat in the lotus position and he looked at his feet.

"Actually…"

A hand broke through the hollow tree and grabbed onto Yuki's collar. As if time were moving slowly, Naruto and Yuki looked back and saw the woman from before smiling at them. Her tan skin wasn't punctured by the random pieces of wood flying everywhere. Without missing a beat, the woman pulled Yuki out and they disappeared in front of Naruto's eyes.

"YUKI!" Naruto got up but immediately fell forward. He caught himself before his face hit the ground and cursed.

"I'm still too weak…"

**"Ne, Ne, what's this? You're giving up… pathetic." **Naruto gripped the grass under him tightly, enough that his fist turned white.

**"Oh? Am I angering you? Ha, no matter what you do, how much stronger you get, you'll always be a brat who cries whenever he doesn't get his way."** Naruto growled as he felt himself being pulled into his subconscious. He opened his eyes to see that he was back in the cave with a small opening filled with water.

Naruto stood up and looked around. It was empty, he didn't see anyone around.

"Naruto-kun." Naruto's eyes widened as he heard footsteps behind.

"That voice." He felt petite arms wrap around his chest and neck. Foreign hair tickled his exposed neck as foreign skin rubbed against his right cheek.

"I see you haven't forgotten about me." Naruto's eyes drifted to right and stared into lustful, lavender ones. "That's very sweet of you Naruto-kun."

Naruto growled and spun on his heels, extending his arm and claws out but the person behind him was too quick and avoided his attack.

"Naruto-kun, I thought I was your only best friend." Hinata said as she stood on top of the water.

"You're not Hinata." Naruto said and he fell into a battle stance. Hinata's eye lids fell half way and she smiled evilly.

"How can you say that?" Naruto disappeared from Hinata's sight only to blink and see him in front of her with his fist moving for her face. She closed her eyes and waited for the pain but it never came. She opened her eyes and saw his fist only inches away from her face. Naruto's head was hung low and his arm was shaking.

"Get out of that form and fight me." Naruto said and Hinata blinked multiple times before smiling. She gently placed her hand on Naruto's chin and made him look up.

"You really are clueless." Hinata said and Naruto's eyes widened when he felt her lips place themselves gently on his. His eyes couldn't get wider as he felt her lips curve up against his in a smile.

After a solid minute, Hinata backed off and Naruto fell to his knees, panting heavily. His eyes moved to Hinata and saw that she was breathing as if nothing happened.

"I'm a lot closer than you think, Naruto-kun." Hinata said with a serious expression. Naruto blinked at her sudden seriousness. "Can you feel it Naruto-kun? My soul is calling for you, it needs you." Hinata, with a still serious expression, had tears fall from her eyes.

"Why are you doing this to me?" Naruto said as he struggled to stand. "WHY DO YOU TORTURE ME?!" Naruto yelled. Hinata just continued to stare at Naruto with a serious expression.

"You wouldn't learn if I tried a different method." She answered and Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"What?"

"Just find me, I need you!" Hinata said before Naruto was dragged into the body of water by a shadow. When he disappeared, a figure stepped out of the shadows and placed a hand on Hinata's left shoulder. Hinata nodded before her body faded away like a mirage. The blond haired man looked at the water that was moving around.

**"KUKUKU, you're going soft on me, Kyūbi"** From the water, a black fox with a Hollow's mask appeared in front of the blond-headed figure.

**"I'm not the Kyūbi anymore, you know that."** The fox nodded childishly before barring its teeth in a smile. **"What do you want, Hollow?"**

**"You can feel it too, can't you?** The Hollow asked and the blond man nodded.

**"Yes, he's finally arrived, hopefully to take care of you."** The Hollow laughed crazily.

**"Until then, looks like you'll have to make due."**

Naruto snapped his eyes opened as he felt his wounds from the previous day start to heal. He stood up and felt his zanpakutō's spiritual energy envelope him like a warm blanket.

He closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. He let it out and tried to clear his mind. He opened his eyes and jumped out of the hole the woman made and ran in the direction where he could sense the woman's spiritual presence. Naruto jumped on the trees and used them as leverage to go across the forest quicker.

_'What did she mean Hinata needs me? She's back in Konoha… isn't she?'_ Naruto was too distracted with his thoughts that he didn't see the stray branch and hit his head, knocking him to the ground.

"Damn it…" He stood up and sat in the lotus position.

_'I can't find and get Yuki back if I don't calm down and clear my thoughts.'_

Before he could clear his mind, he suddenly felt Hinata's presence near.

_'N-No… that's not right, she's in Konoha… right…'_ He still remembered how her spirit felt when he last visited her. Naruto stood up and ran as quickly as he could to the direction where he felt her presence.

_'Right?!'_

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**That's it for the Shinigami Chronicles sneak peak.... I hope you enjoyed it and hopefully, I'll have the entire, complete chapter up by tomorrow....**

**Ok, I thought about it and decided to give you guys more sneak peaks... This one is from A Demon's Curse and An Angel's Blessing...**

**Hope you like!**

***For those who don't know, this one is my story of Naruto being a completely demon, with nine tails and everything... In this sneak peak, he's in the academy for the first time after his transformation....**

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Sakura wandered around the academy, her mind mostly on Naruto and Hinata. She was happy that both were okay considering what happened the previous day. Though, she was really curious as to why Naruto went through the odd change.

"AH!" Sakura gasped and looked around for the person the yell belonged to. She decided to follow it but upon seeing the reason for the yell, Sakura wanted to walk away.

"N-No… N-Naruto-kun!" Hinata was being tickled by all nine of Naruto's tails and from her position; Sakura knew Hinata had no way of escaping. Sakura managed to sneak away without getting noticed by the two. She thought back on the image in her mind and smiled; she was happy for Hinata. For as long as she had known the shy girl, Sakura knew Hinata always liked Naruto and now, she was all he was focused on.

If Sakura would've been honest with herself, she would've admitted that she felt jealous that Hinata had Naruto's undivided attention. However, before the thought could actually register in her mind, she dismissed the odd feeling as her 'sixth sense'.

As anyone in the honorary Sasuke fan club would tell you, they each developed their own 'sixth sense' that told them that Sasuke needed their attention immediately. For some reason, Sakura's 'sixth sense' hadn't been as active as it had been a year ago. Hell, it's not even as active as it was last week.

However, her inner-fangirl had managed to categorize it as an odd phenomenon and should be left alone for now.

Back to Hinata and Naruto, after making her cry, Naruto had immediately stopped and was whining lowly while he waited for Hinata to compose herself. He had wiped away her tears with his tails and then waited patiently besides her.

After Hinata calmed down enough, she sat up and looked at Naruto but was surprised when she spotted him sitting next to her with a solemn expression. She wondered why he had a somber expression; it actually reminded her of a pet who knew it did something wrong and was waiting for its punishment. She blinked repeatedly as she thought it over; was he waiting to be punished? By who and for what?

"N-Naruto-kun?" She saw Naruto flinch and look at her nervously with an expecting sparkle in his eyes. "I-It's ok." She said, still unsure of what exactly made him somber but she just wanted to see him smile, even if for her own selfish enjoyment.

Naruto wasn't one to resist a smile, presently or before his change, so, much to Hinata's enjoyment, he smiled brightly though not as brightly as when he was tickling her. She guessed he felt guilty for whatever it was he thinks he did.

"Come on Naruto-kun, I-I brought my lunch, its cinnamon buns." Naruto's somber mood disappeared like a drop of water on a burning skillet and his normal giant smile returned. He was jumping around Hinata as they walked back to class to get her lunch. She didn't really want to deal with questions from her classmates so she decided to get her lunch after everyone left.

Opening the door and looking around, Hinata saw no one, so she snuck in and went to her desk where her lunch was. She might have loved cinnamon above all other foods but she was willing to share if it was with Naruto.

After retrieving her lunch, Hinata quickly rejoined Naruto in the hall and left to sit at a picnic table right outside the academy. While walking, she noticed that Naruto was looking at her lunch, as if it would disappear if he took his eyes off it.

After making it to the picnic table, Hinata snapped her fingers and put her lunch on the table and a second after, Naruto jumped on the table and started to sniff the bag.

"I-I'm coming back N-Naruto-kun, I h-have to get something." Hinata made a quick jog to the academy and Naruto would've followed… "S-Stay Naruto-kun!" If it wasn't for that.

Naruto continued to stare at Hinata's lunch vigilantly while he waited for Hinata. As he did, his ears twitched when he heard footsteps approaching. Naruto looked up and saw four older looking students walk up to him. They surrounded him and he looked around casually ass his tails continued to move lazily. He couldn't help but let a warning growl escape his lips when he saw their smirks.

"Hmm… I always knew you were weird Uzumaki but this is taking it to an extreme." The boy in the left said as the other three agreed. Naruto glared at them as he stood up on all fours but was brought down by someone who jumped on him from behind. Naruto groaned as he felt the heavier kid keep him from getting up.

The other four kids laughed as one high-fived the kid on Naruto.

"Good job, Haruko." The big kid on Naruto nodded as the four kids brought their attention back on Naruto. "What's this?" The ringleader of the kids laughed as he grabbed Hinata's lunch. Naruto barked as he used one of his tails to easily push Haruko off him and get in a defensive position.

"Hey, Goro, it looks like he wants to fight." The one next to Goro suggested. Goro nodded as he handed Hinata's lunch to the other three and they started to grab at the food inside. Goro walked up to Naruto who was in position to stab Goro with any of his numerous tails. Right before he did though, Naruto remembered Hinata's words and ran past Goro who was spooked by Naruto's speed.

Naruto appeared in front of the three as they took out a cinnamon bun. He quickly recovered them and Hinata's lunch and ran into the academy just as Hinata came out. She looked back and saw Naruto head for the classroom. Hinata went after him and saw him looking at the doorway like a guard dog.

"Naruto-kun?" Naruto relaxed when he saw Hinata and smiled as she walked over to him. "W-Why are you here?" She asked and Naruto didn't react to it and Hinata forgot he couldn't talk, at least, not a lot. She sat in her chair and took out two cinnamon buns; one for her and one for Naruto who took the whole bun in his mouth.

With his cheeks puffed out, he crossed his eyes while trying to look at his nose that somehow got some of the cinnamon bun on it. Hinata giggled as Naruto swallowed the entire cinnamon bun and tried to lick the cinnamon from his nose. This only made Hinata giggle louder. She searched her pockets and took out some napkins and used one to remove the cinnamon from his nose. After she did, Naruto titled his head back and then sneezed but this caused his body to move back and fall off the desk.

Hinata smiled as she helped Naruto up.

"Bless you, Naruto-kun." She said and Naruto yipped. He begged for another cinnamon bun and Hinata happily gave him another one. This time, Naruto chewed the cinnamon bun as he sat contently next to Hinata and purred when she scratched his ears with her soft hands. She couldn't help but widen her smile as she enjoyed the remainder of her lunch with Naruto.

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**This one is for you in particular Rose Tiger since this was one of the stories you want me to update...**

**My first Story ever: Double Life... I gotta apologize for its short length so please bear with me.... Luckily for this one, in the italic scene, you don't need to know what happened in the story... Its more of fluff than anything else... **

**Enjoy!**

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_"Daddy." A blond man turned to look at his seven year old son who had blond, spiky hair standing at the door to the garage. The man smiled as he motioned his son to join him from under his car. The little boy smiled as he hopped to his father's side and went under his car which was held in the air by a car lift._

_"What is it son?" The kid's father asked._

_"What are you doing?" He asked and his father laughed._

_"I am taking out the old oil from your mother's car and replacing it with new oil. She's been asking me to do this for a while and if I don't do it now, I won't be able to sleep in my room." The father answered but his kid pouted._

_"But, it's your room, how can she kick you out?" He asked and again, his father laughed._

_"I'll put it so you can understand son… women have special powers and abilities that make us men listen to them." The kid scrunched his face up as he thought over his father's words._

_"You mean like witches?" he asked innocently._

_"Heh, not exactly." He answered as he unscrewed a bolt and let the oil fall into a container. _

_"COOL!" His son yelled as he watched the black liquid fall out of the car. "Is that oil daddy?" He asked._

_"Yeah, do you want to learn how to do this?" The father chuckled as his son nodded his head enthusiastically. He then started to explain how to replace the oil and what to do with the old oil. After ten minutes or so, the job was done and both father and son had a few oil stains on their faces and clothes._

_"Now how did you get oil on your face and clothes?" The father asked. His kid giggled as he smiled with his eyes closed._

_"You let me re-screw the bolt remember?" The kid said and his father nodded. The kid's smile then disappeared as he looked on at his hands. Both father and son were sitting with their legs crossed under them and on the ground. The kid then felt someone place a hand on his left shoulder and looked to his right to see his father hugging him from his side._

_"You know son, I'm glad we spent this time together." The kid's father started. "Maybe you won't remember exactly how to do it but you'll understand the basics of how to change your oil and when you grow up and have a kid of your own, you'll be able to spend time with him and teach him everything you know; just like what I'm doing with you."_

_The man's son looked incredulous at his father before smiling and nodding. The two then heard the sound of a door opening. They looked up to see a woman with a blue apron and long, indigo hair._

_"Lunch is ready." Came the soft, sweet voice of the man's wife and the kid's mother. They both stood up and ran inside._

_"I hope its ramen." The man said._

_"Me too!" The mother and wife giggled as she walked in after her two boys, placing a hand on top of her small, yet noticeable bump in her stomach. She smiled affectionately, knowing she had to wait another five months until the newest member of their family was born..._

**[*.*.*.*]**

**_Sniff-sniff…_**

**_Beep… Beep_**…

"Naruto-kun…" Hinata was able to say through her sobs. It's been over a week or two and Naruto still hasn't woken up. He was just lying on the bed, motionless and pale. He was hooked up to a bunch of machines and it really scared Hinata to see someone like Naruto in such a vulnerable state. She wiped away another batch of tears with her already moisten sleeve as she continued to hold on to his hand with her free hand.

She had been told by the doctors that he shouldn't have lived; that he lost too much blood and just by some miracle he had survived. Hinata wasn't sure what had saved him but she was grateful nonetheless.

"Naruto-kun… please wake up, please." She pleaded as her hold on his hand tightened. Her mind was too engrossed on her worry that she didn't notice the door open and two men walk into the room.

"Excuse me…" Hinata looked up and turned her head to see two police officers.

"Is this Naruto Uzumaki's room?" The officer asked and Hinata nodded. "And who might you be?" The officer asked and Hinata wiped her tears away with her sleeve.

"I-I'm Hinata Hyuga." She answered and both officers look at each other.

"We're going to have to arrest you, Hyuga-san." The second officer said as he walked over to Hinata. She immediately stood up and walked away from the officer.

"N-No… N-Naruto-kun still hasn't woken up yet…" She cried but the offier shook his head.

"I'm sorry but you killed somebody and it doesn't matter who he was, murder is still a felony." The second officer said as he and his partner tried to corner Hinata...

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**And last but not least, the story that has more than 300 reivew, which I am thankful for...**

**Naruto of the Immortal Clan!**

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Naruto waved to Gaara as he, Hinata, Sasuke and Shikamaru walked out of Suna's entrance and headed for their home. Shikamaru glanced at Temari who was looking at him seductively. He blushed but smirked as he turned his head and waved to her from behind. He then looked at Naruto who now had his attention on his girlfriend who was smiling while standing next to him. Sasuke was quiet as he walked in front of everyone with a brooding aura around him.

"I can't wait to go home! I can't believe we've been there for almost a week! As soon as I see Konoha, I'm going straight to Ichiraku's and eat ramen till I explode!" Naruto announced earning a giggle from Hinata, a smirk from Shikamaru and a scowl from Sasuke. Naruto noticed Sasuke's dark expression and frowned but didn't say anything; at least not until they reached Konoha.

Almost three days have passed since Shikamaru's team left Suna and knew they were close to Konoha if the scenery had anything to say about it. Naruto was still worried about Sasuke whose mood was getting worse with each passing hour. He had asked Shikamaru and Hinata if they knew anything about it but they knew as much as he did; nothing. Finally, Naruto decided to confront him about it.

"What's wrong with you Sasuke? You look like hell." Naruto said and Sasuke glared at him.

"Leave me alone dobe." Sasuke warned as he walked a bit faster. Naruto ran up to catch up and grabbed his arm.

"What did I-" Naruto jumped back as Sasuke tried to punch him. "Hey!" Naruto ducked under a roundhouse kick but didn't see a left job come from the side. Naruto coughed as Sasuke's fist buried itself in his abdomen. Naruto staggered back as he tried to null the pain in his stomach before standing and rushing to Sasuke. However, he was held back by Hinata who held on to his right arm.

"We shouldn't fight each other, we're teammates remember?" Hinata said but Naruto and Sasuke only glared at each other.

"I don't know what you're problem's been these days teme but it's gotta stop!" Naruto demanded.

"You're my problem dobe!" Sasuke shouted back and Hinata tried desperately to hold Naruto back who was slowly getting closer and closer to Sasuke. "Why does Itachi find you so interesting?!" He blurted out and Naruto took a few steps back, along with Hinata.

"W-What do you mean?" Naruto asked hesitantly, wondering if he knew of his training with Itachi. Hinata was afraid that Sasuke did find out and that Sasuke would attack Naruto.

"You know what I'm talking about! When he came with that other blue guy to get you! What is it about you that has Itachi's interest?!" Sasuke roared.

"Sasuke calm down, you're being troublesome." Shikamaru said calmly.

"You stay out of this!" Sasuke retorted angrily before looking at Hinata. "You too, get out of the way." Sasuke ordered.

"Don't talk to her like that!" Naruto said to defend Hinata.

"And why not?! I was the one who saved her by rushing her to the hospital when she went into cardiogenic shock! If anything, she should have left you for me! Where were you when she needed you the most? Oh that's right, you were killing someone!" Sasuke shouted and Naruto growled but noticed a gleam in Sasuke's eyes that he hadn't seen before.

"I'm surprised she stayed with you as long as she has. I almost feel sorry for her for having to 'love' someone like you! You're nothing special; you're just like everyone else. Don't be surprised if one day she leaves you for me!" Everyone looked at him in shock. In an instant, Sasuke was sent back by Naruto's right fist to the face.

"Shut up Sasuke, you don't know what you're talking about!" Naruto yelled as he felt his rage almost overcome him.

**_'Breathe kit, he's just trying to get under your skin._**' Naruto mentally nodded as Sasuke stood. He started to chuckle as black, fire like shapes started to spread from the left side of his neck. After a second, the entire left side of Sasuke's body was decorated with the black flames.

"You want to fight? I'll give you a fight!" Sasuke shouted as he disappeared from Naruto's sight, only for him to feel a harsh kick to his ribs. He was rolling on the ground before he recovered and looked at where he felt the kick come from but saw no one but Hinata and Shikamaru there.

"TO SLOW!" Naruto groaned as Sasuke's fist connected with his face and he flew across the heavily wooded area. Naruto's back hit a tree before going passed it and onto the next tree, breaking every tree in his path. He recovered as he picked himself off the trees and dusted himself. He looked up and saw Sasuke slowly walking to him.

Naruto growled as he took out one of his swords; Sasuke had no idea what he was in for now.

**[*.*.*.*]**

"MINATO-KUN!" Minato flinched as he entered his home and heard the shout of his lover. He was only given a second to think as a red blur rammed into him and sent him out of the house. "Where were you?" Kushina asked worriedly. Minato blinked repeatedly at her.

"Working?" He answered confusingly. Kushina hugged him tightly as she snuggled against his chest.

"I missed you so much." She said and Minato stood with Kushina still holding on to him like a life line.

"But… we saw each other an hour ago." Minato stated and Kushina pouted.

"What? I can't miss you anymore? You want me to leave you alone forever?" She asked as she took a step away from Minato.

"Oh no you don't." Minato grabbed Kushina's arm and brought her in for another hug. "You're not doing that to me again, I learned my lesson the last time." He told her and she giggled.

"Good, I was afraid that I was going to have to re-teach you everything." Kushina teased and Minato blushed, remembering one particular lesson. "Looks like you remember my favorite." Minato's silence and red face was all the assurance she needed. She sighed as her enjoyment wore off at the thought of their son still in Suna.

"What's wrong Kushina-chan?" Minato asked, noticing her sudden change in mood.

"I'm still worried about Naruto, he's been gone for almost a week now and I miss him too." She answered, letting herself be comforted by her lover. He picked her up bridal style and walked into his home.

"Come on, you saw how skilled his when he attacked me, he's a strong shinobi who will need at least an army to stop him, not unlike his old man." Minato reassured Kushina with a joke and she smiled.

"You're right; we have nothing to worry about." She said as she wrapped her arms around his neck. She breathed in his scent as he walked up the stairs and kicked the door to their room open. He gently laid her on the bed and before he could make another move, Kushina, with her arms still wrapped around his neck, pulled him into a heated kiss.

**_BOOM_**

Minato's and Kushina's kiss was interrupted when a loud explosion sounded through the entire village and shook the ground. Minato and Kushina looked out the window and saw a cloud of smoke rising from a location about half a mile away from their current location. Minato and Kushina looked at each other, nodded and disappeared in a cloud of smoke after Minato put on his ANBU mask.

They appeared just outside their house and watched as a couple of jonin and even less ANBU race over to where the cloud of smoke was. Everyone stopped abruptly as soon as they felt an enormous amount of chakra accumulating near the cloud of smoke.

**_BOOM_**

Another huge explosion rocked the Earth from under the jonin and ANBU as most jonin were starting to sweat. They wondered if this enormous chakra reserves belonged to an enemy shinobi and if so, would they be able to stop if?

Minato and Kushina knew better than to think that; they knew who's chakra reserves were high enough to pull off a jutsu which required lots of chakra. They began to run to where a fight was probably occurring and were surprised to see Sasuke dodging a quick swipe from Naruto after arriving.

"Kushina-san!" Kushina turned to see Hinata and Shikamaru. "Kushina-san, you have to stop them!" Hinata yelled as she and Shikamaru were standing in front of the two adults. Minato, from under his mask, was looking at Naruto as he dodged a giant fireball while simultaneously sending a blade of chakra at Sasuke. After a second, the rest of the ANBU and jonin from earlier arrived and watched the fight from a distance. One ANBU made to intercept them but Minato stopped him with his extended right arm.

"Let's let them get it out of their system first; we'll stop them when we have to." He ordered and the other ANBU nodded their heads. Everyone's focus then turned to Sasuke and Naruto who were now panting as they glared at each other; well, Sasuke was panting and Naruto was getting his bruises and cuts healed by Kyuubi.

Sasuke felt his hatred flare up as he noticed that Naruto wasn't even winded, at least not a lot that it was noticeable. His mind focused on hurting Naruto, maybe even killing him if he had to, just so he could know just how strong he was compared to Naruto. Without even thinking, Sasuke flashed through some hand signs before he gripped his left wrist with his right hand.

The sounds of thousands of birds chirping were heard as Sasuke's left hand shined with electricity. Naruto cocked his right hand to the side after shaking his head and summoned chakra to his palm while making it spin. After a while, Sasuke and Naruto were only staring at each other, faintly taking note of shouts and bellows off in the side. That wasn't important to them now, they were going to settle this once in for all; they were going to find out who was the better shinobi.

With an unofficial signal, both shinobi charged at each other with their attack waiting to be sprung. At a distance of ten feet, Naruto and Sasuke threw their individual attack forward and waited for the impact… until…

"**Ninja Art: Toad Mouth Trap!**" Suddenly, something grabbed onto both shinobi's legs and grabbed onto Naruto's right wrist and Sasuke's left wrist. Composing himself, Naruto noticed that he was just a couple of inches away from Sasuke with his Rasengan aimed for Sasuke's heart. His eyes widened as realization struck in; he was about to seriously hurt Sasuke or even kill him. Sasuke also noticed that his left hand was inches away from Naruto's chest and cursed, he almost had him.

Naruto looked around and saw that he was in the esophagus of a great, fire-breathing toad from Myōbokuzan and some of the skin were wrapped around both their wrist.

An ANBU appeared in between the two boys and was crouched down, his face directed at Naruto. A second ANBU appeared behind Sasuke and knocked him out with a chop to his neck. The chidori vanished from Sasuke's hand and Naruto cancelled his Rasengan which made the ANBU release the jutsu and were once again surrounded by the devastating battle field that was once a forest. Now, there were trees toppled over each other and giant craters around the area...

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**Sorry if my sneak peaks don't make sense to people who haven't read any of my other stories but for those who have, I hope that was enough... I'm sorry that I haven't updated some of the stories but my priorities are a little messed up....**

**Though I'd like to thank everyone who actually read most of my stories... So thank you Chewie Cookies, Leaf Ranger, Rose Tiger and animefanbren... If I forgot someone, I'm really sorry....**

**If any of the sneak peaks catch your interest and you haven't read them yet, please do me a favor and check them out... I'd really appreciate it...**

**I'm gunna go and work on my essay now since that's what I should be doing right now....**

**Till next time!**

******Good luck with whatever and ZZZ, if you got a problem with me or one of my stories, please feel free to: Deal with it, Get over it or Choke on it cuz I don't give a shit anymore...**  



	16. Good VS Evil

**Been so long huh?**

**Yeah, sorry, I've just been distracted lately...**

**My girl's leaving for the rest of my summer which is a major drag... With her gone, most of my happiness and muse will also go with her...**

**Luckily, in this day and age, we don't have to be near each other to be able to communicate... Even though I would rather have her near me, I'm satisfied with whatever I can get...**

**Man, I'm gunna miss her... So if my writing seems to plummet then its cuz my girl took my talent -_-... I'm gunna miss you, babe!**

**Moving on from my patheticness...**

**Hope you like the chapter...**

_**"Always give a hundred percent, and you'll never have to second-guess yourself."  
^**_**Tommy John^**

**Chapter 16: ****Good vs Evil; the bridge that connects them**

******I don't own Naruto or Inuyasha...**

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******Quick Summary:**

******Basically, Naruto and Sasuke are off training on the water walking thing... Hinata bought a sword and the jewel shard... Kagome was taken by a not so mysterious figure... Inuyasha lost her scent... and the seller dies.. yay... move it along!**

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**[*.*.Next day.*.*]**

Naruto chuckled as he walked around with his ankles and feet out of the water. Behind him, he could feel Sasuke glare at him.

He didn't care; he was almost done with his training. Even though his movements were just a bit faster than a turtle walking through peanut butter, he was still walking on water.

If it's even possible, Sasuke was going slower than he was. It wasn't his fault though, Naruto knew he wouldn't even be where he was if it wasn't for Hinata. Earlier, he had asked her how she could do it. Her answer was plain and simple; just don't think.

At first, her answer confused him considering that Inuyasha had told him to do that whenever he trained with him. Her explanation was much clearer.

"_Sometimes, it's not about thinking you can do it, it's about actually doing it." Naruto raised his eyebrow at her and she blushed. "When you focus too much on putting the right amount of chakra into your feet, or for me, in any part of the body, you tend to strain yourself and accidently put too much or too little chakra into them._

"_Just don't think; just do it." She said with a smile and Naruto nodded his head._

It was kind of hard to not think about it but Naruto still tried. Within the hour, he was able to stand on his feet without sinking into the water.

"BOO!" Naruto jumped two feet into the air when Kakashi appeared in front of him in the blink of an eye. When he landed, he found that he was still standing on top of the water. "Well Naruto, looks like you're done with your training." Kakashi stated with an eye smile.

"Huh?" Confused, Naruto tilted his head to the side.

"You're still standing aren't you?" Kakashi asked and Naruto smirked after his mind processed this info.

"Yeah, I guess I am." Naruto said with a smirk.

"Try walking, none of that slow walking, normal walking." Naruto took a cautious step forward and found it firm on the water. Sasuke watched with a small sense of awe and an even greater sense of jealousy.

Taking another step, Naruto found it easier to walk.

Proud of his student, Kakashi placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder and eye smiled.

"You're done for now Naruto; go rest for a while." Naruto nodded and walked back to land. Before he stepped on land though, Naruto turned and faced Sasuke who seemed to be annoyed by something. Smirking, Naruto walked over to him.

Sasuke was surprised to see Naruto walking over to him but sneered when Naruto smirked victoriously.

What surprised him the most was when Naruto placed a friendly hand over Sasuke's left shoulder and smiled.

"Don't think, just do it." Naruto told Sasuke before walking away. Kakashi smiled at his student as he disappeared in the shroud of forest. He looked back at his last student and noticed the pensive look.

'_Looks like he's starting to understand.'_ Kakashi thought.

'_Easier said than done dobe, but…'_

***.*.*.***

Naruto sighed happily as he walked into Tazuna's home and sat down on the nearby couch. He closed his eyes and could feel sleep start to overcome him. Even though he was a fox hanyō with above average chakra reserves, he was still half human and could still get tired.

"Naruto-kun." He opened his eyes and saw Hinata looking nervously at him.

"Oh, hey Hinata-chan. What's up?" Naruto asked as he yawned. He stretched his hands up but when he brought them back down, his hands hit something cold and hard. He opened his eyes and was surprised to see her bowing to him with a sword in her hands. The moment his eyes rested on the sword, however, he knew it was anything but ordinary.

The pommel was as red as blood with the hilt covered in a white cloth. Covering it was the sheathe that was as black as night with a barely visible carving on the side. It wasn't written in any familiar language but for some reason, he knew if he spent a few minutes with the sheath, he'd be able to read what it says.

"Uhm…" Naruto was hesitant to grab it, something about it made him think that maybe he shouldn't touch it. Still, Hinata was giving him something and he couldn't just say 'Uhm, not thanks' without looking like a jerk. "Thanks." He touched the sheath and he felt two short pulses come from it. His hand moved back as he gasped in surprise.

"W-What's wrong?" Hinata asked and Naruto looked at his hand and then at Hinata with a false smile.

"Nothing, I thought… I thought I touched a bug that landed on top of the sword." He lied and chuckled sheepishly. Hinata could tell he was lying but decided to keep it to herself. He then grabbed the sword and another set of pulses came from it before it stopped all together.

"D-Do you like it?" Hinata asked nervously. Naruto felt warmth spread out from his hands to the rest of his body. It made him feel like he was being protected, watched in the non-stalker-ish way, the way a father would watch over his son.

"Yeah, this is awesome, thanks Hinata-chan!" Naruto said and hugged Hinata. Hinata smiled and hugged him back, laughing when his ear tickled the left side of her face.

"Oh, sorry." He said and broke the hug. Hinata blushed but smiled.

"It's ok, I-I'm used to it." She said and Naruto blushed a little. He looked at the sheath of his new sword and decided to pull it out. He was disappointed when he took it out and the blade to the sword was missing.

"Uhm… Hinata-chan?" Hinata gasped and put her hands over her mouth.

'_I was wondering why it felt so light!' _"I'm so sorry Naruto-kun." She apologized but Naruto didn't reply just yet; he just kept looking at the space above the hilt where the blade should be. He put the hilt back into the sheath and smiled at Hinata.

"It's ok, Hinata-chan. Besides, I bet I can still scare people with it." He said and Hinata still looked at the sword.

"Still, I'm sorry. I thought that it was a real sword. I'm so stupid, I should've checked to make sure there was a blade." Hinata said and Naruto grabbed her by her shoulders. She gasped as she stared into his eyes.

"You're not stupid, no one's ever stupid. You were just confused." Naruto told her. "And you were tricked, who ever sold you that was just trying to get a quick buck. Don't worry about it Hinata-chan, its ok." He said and grabbed the hilt.

"Y-You sure?" She asked and Naruto nodded with a confident smile.

"Positive." Naruto then blinked when he saw a pink jewel hanging from Hinata's neck. It was huge and he wondered just how he missed the first time he saw her. His eyes widened as he grabbed it and examined it.

"Hinata-chan, where'd you get this?" Naruto asked and Hinata blinked repeatedly as she stared at the jewel as well.

"It came with the swo-I mean, hilt. The man said it was a legendary jewel though I can't really remember what he said." Naruto let it go after a couple of minutes of examining it and then grabbed Hinata's hand.

"N-Naruto-kun, where're you taking me?" She asked.

"We're going to find this man and I'm going to give him a piece of my mind." Naruto said and throughout the whole walk, Hinata tried to convince Naruto to just let it go.

**[*.*.*.*]**

With her eyes slowly opening, Kagome turned her head at the sounds of running water. Her vision was blurred but from what she could tell, she was in a big room made of wood or something similar to that. She saw movement out of the corner of her eyes and tried to sit up.

After her first failed attempt, Kagome tried again, only to receive a massive headache as a reward for her hard work.

"Calm down, idiot or you'll hurt yourself again." The voice was dry and hoarse, almost like it had been yelling for the last couple of hours.

What Kagome didn't know was that that was exactly what happened. Zabuza glared at Kagome as he tried to recollect his voice from a cup of water. After yelling at Haku about bring a girl to their hide out, he decided that he might as well let the girl heal and then kick her out.

He might be a demon but he wasn't completely heartless.

"W-Who's there?" Kagome asked faintly, her voice almost nonexistent.

"Don't worry about who I am, just worry about getting better." Zabuza replied sharply as he walked out of Kagome's temporary room. He stepped out of his hideout and sighed.

'_Hurry up Haku, our plan starts today.' _He looked up at the sky. '_You're too kind for your own good, especially in a world like this.'_

Meanwhile, Haku sneezed as he picked an herb off the ground.

"Bless you!" Haku heard a voice shout and he jumped.

"W-Who's there?" A shier and gentler voice asked and Haku stood up. With one hand behind his back, he started making one-handed hand signs. Water molecules in the air started to come together to form ice needles. Hidden in the trees, Haku prepared to incapacitate them in case they became hostile.

Stepping into the clearing, Haku saw that it was only a blond haired boy wearing what looked to be fox ears, a navy blue jacket, an orange shirt, navy blue sweatpants and blue ninja sandals.

Next to him was a blue haired girl, wearing a tan sweater, blue pants that was skin tight and reached the middle of her shins and blue ninja sandals.

Haku then remembered that these two were the shinobi hired to protect the bridge builder. Surely they hadn't seen him from behind his mask so he highly doubted that they were here for him. Still…

"Hello." Greeted Haku with a smile. The hand behind his back tensed as he waited for a sign of hostility.

"Who the hell are you?" The boy asked with a cautious look. Haku kept the smile on his face as his hand was a second away from knocking these two out until the girl spoke.

"Naruto-kun, be nice." The girl said as she walked over to Haku. "Hello, I'm Hinata Hyūga and this is Naruto Uzumaki." She said and Haku nodded his head.

"Hello, my name is Haku, pleasure to meet you." Haku said and Naruto noticed the bask full of herbs he was holding.

"What's that for?" Naruto asked, pointing to the herbs. Haku tensed.

"Oh, this is for some stranger I met the other day. She was seriously ill so I thought I'd make her a medicine to make her feel better." He told them and Hinata nodded. Naruto however took in a deep breath and sniffed the air around him. His eyes widened for only a second before they relaxed.

"Is she going to be ok?" Naruto asked and Haku nodded.

"She just needs her rest." Haku told him, hoping to calm his concern. He found it odd that he would care at all.

"Oh, that's good considering that I wouldn't want anything to happen to her. I mean, if aniki found out, he'd go ballistic." Naruto said with a smile, leaving both Hinata and Haku confused.

"Why would Inuyasha-senpai care?" Hinata asked.

"Because Kagome-nee-chan is with him." He said cheerfully and Haku's body tensed. "You mind if I see her?" Naruto asked as his eye smiled at Haku. The smile on his lips seemed really fake to Haku and he felt a false sense of security from it. He jumped back when Naruto suddenly rushed forward and almost took Haku's head off.

"Naruto-kun!" Naruto turned to her with his eyes almost changing to red.

"Go tell Kakashi-sensei that I found Kagome-nee-chan… and one of Zabuza's lackeys." Hinata's and Haku's eyes widened before Haku's hand made one hand sign. He was surprised when nothing happened and even more so when a second and third Naruto appeared and grabbed his arms.

"I saw those ice needles forming over our head." Naruto said as he drove his nails into the center of his palm. Blood soaked his nails and they began to light up.

"**Blades of Blood!**" Naruto yelled as crimsons blades of energy rushed passed Haku and his clones, leaving scratches and cuts over Haku's body. His clones exploded and smoke clouded over Haku as a result. Naruto sweat dropped.

"Oops. AH!" Ice needles rained down on Naruto from the cloud of smoke. As it cleared, Hinata saw Haku running away. Naruto growled as his wounds healed and he looked at Hinata. "Go!" He didn't give her a chance to say any more on the subject as he fell on all fours and disappeared in front of her.

After an internal struggle, Hinata decided to ignore Naruto's request and follow after him. She ran after him, positive that he would be too focused on getting Haku than her following after him.

Besides, there was no way in hell Hinata was going to let Naruto face the Haku, the Demon Brothers and Zabuza… at least, not all alone.

**[*.*.*.*]**

Inuyasha jumped down from the tree he was just in and smirked triumphantly.

After defeating the random bandits, he continued down south following the river until he noticed a second scent near the area where Kagome's scent disappeared. He decided to follow that scent and it led him to some cabin like hideout in the middle of the forest. The cabin seemed to be built within the tree with strings supporting it. It had a couple of huge openings so you could see what the occupants inside were doing.

Inuyasha placed a still sleeping Shippo on the ground nearby before he snuck up to the hideout. He climbed up the tree with his nails until he was just outside a window. With one final lunge, he jumped through the window and landed gracefully on his feet. He looked to his right and saw Kagome sleeping with a wet cloth over her forehead. A pale blue blanket covered her body.

"Kagome…" Inuyasha whispered to himself, glad she was ok. Well, better than hurt.

"Inuyasha… look out." Kagome whispered and he saw her wearily looking behind him. He turned and saw a smirking masked man about to swing his large zanbatō.

"Heads up!" Inuyasha ducked and jumped next to Kagome. He took out his Tessaiga and it transformed. "Hmm, impressive." Zabuza said as he put his zanbatō over his shoulder.

"Whatever, I'm not here to fight, I'm here for Kagome." Inuyasha then smirked. "But I haven't had a good fight in a long time." Zabuza smirked, accepting Inuyasha's fight.

"Well brat, looks like you're in luck. I just so happen to have time to kill." Inuyasha chuckled as the two giant sword wielders stared at each other. "But not here."

Inuyasha was taken aback at the sudden comment but nodded; he didn't want to harm Kagome either directly or indirectly. They both nodded as they walked outside, a momentary truce was in play. However, as soon as they stepped outside, they got into their position and Inuyasha was the one to start it off.

He ran up to Zabuza and jumped just five feet away from him. With Tessaiga behind his back, Inuyasha brought it down over his head. Zabuza brought his zanbatō up and blocked it only to be surprised by the amount of force behind the swing.

Inuyasha brought Tessaiga back up and then swung it from the left side. Zabuza blocked it again but this time he was prepared for Inuyasha's attack. With no luck passing Zabuza's defenses, Inuyasha continued to swing around, trying to cut Zabuza down. Zabuza cursed, he couldn't find room to defend _and_ attack. It was either one or the other.

Getting tired of only defending, Zabuza gambled his life away when he tossed both their swords away and kicked Inuyasha in the chest. Inuyasha used the momentum from the kick to back flip away. He and Zabuza stared at each other before Zabuza started making hand signs.

"Shit!" Inuyasha ran at Zabuza, intending to stop him only for both of them to jump out of the way when crimson blades almost hit them. They both looked up to see Haku send more ice needles to Naruto who was too quick to be hit by them.

"Stay still, damn it!" Naruto shouted as he threw a kunai at Haku.

"I could say the same to you." Haku replied and the two young nin finally noticed the presences of the two older nin.

"Zabuza-sama/Aniki!" Haku and Naruto shouted simultaneously before glaring at each other. Zabuza and Inuyasha looked at each other before looking at their respective surrogate family member.

"ANIKI! He knows where Kagome-nee-chan is!" Naruto yelled and Inuyasha nodded.

"I know-" Inuyasha turned and blocked Zabuza's sneak attack. He growled as he pushed him back and ran at him. He stopped when he saw Zabuza making hand signs. He cursed as he ran at him again only to be stopped by a wall of ice that randomly stood between them.

"Hey, stop cheating!" Inuyasha heard Naruto say before hearing someone get punched.

"**Ninja Art: Hidden Mist Jutsu!**" Inuyasha saw his vision get clouded by the sudden fog and growled. He could faintly smell the guy but it was mostly clouded up by the moisture in the air. Still, he had a vague idea where and when the guy would attack.

Naruto looked around with his mouth agape as Haku lay unconscious next to him.

"I need to learn this jutsu." Naruto said, making a mental note for later.

"When I'm through with you, won't have time to even remember what a jutsu is, let alone learn one." Naruto back flipped away from Zabuza as he almost cleaved Naruto in two. On his hands, Naruto used his left hand to spring him into the air and his right hand started to glow.

"**Iron Reaper Soul Stealer!**" Naruto shouted and Zabuza disappeared in the mist way before the attack could hit him. Naruto growled as he landed and looked around, keeping his senses on alert.

Inuyasha blocked one of Zabuza's swings just as it was an inch away from beheading him. He grabbed onto the zanbatō with his left hand and was about to cut him in half but Zabuza was able to jump back. Inuyasha tossed his zanbatō away before gripping Tessaiga with both hands. He ran at Zabuza and swung down. Zabuza turned to the left and went after his zanbatō.

Naruto, however, had other plans as he and a clone grabbed onto Zabuza's feet, making him trip and fall. Zabuza growled as he took out a hidden kunai and stabbed one of the hands holding on to him. It disappeared in a small cloud of smoke and Zabuza pulled up his other leg; bring Naruto out of the ground. Without giving him time to counter, Zabuza shoved his other foot into Naruto's face, making him let go.

Zabuza got up with enough time to roll out of Inuyasha's way as he brought Tessaiga down.

With his back against the wall, Zabuza applied chakra to his feet so he could reach his zanbatō faster. He dove for his zanbatō and made a full arc swing when he saw himself surrounded by Naruto's clones. Clouds of smoke shrouded him from Naruto's and Inuyasha's sight. They both looked at each other before getting the same idea.

Puncturing their palms with their claws, they readied themselves to attack.

"**Blades of Blood!**" They both shouted as crimson blades surrounded the cloud of smoke and kicked up dust.

Without warning, shuriken chains surround Naruto and Inuyasha and Inuyasha blocks it with Tessaiga. Through reflex, Naruto took out the hilt that Hinata had got him and prevented the chain from touching him with it. Inuyasha easily cut the chain in half and noticed the hilt.

"The hell is that?" He asked and Naruto glared at him.

"Don't worry about it!" He retorted and sheathed the hilt.

Gōzu and Meizu appeared from the sky and started to spin around Naruto and Inuyasha. In a quick motion, they simultaneously ran at the two hanyō with their gauntlets in position to pierce.

A white arrow appeared in front of the two and they stopped in their tracks. Naruto found the arrow familiar and gasped when he saw the person who shot the arrow.

"Hinata-chan, what're you doing here?" Naruto asked and Hinata landed in front of him.

"I didn't want you to face these four alone. I didn't think Inuyasha-senpai would be here though." She said and Inuyasha chuckled.

"Yeah well…"

"'Yeah well' shut up and die!" Zabuza said from behind them and swung his zanbatō horizontally. Inuyasha jumped up while Naruto and Hinata ducked as it passed harmlessly through the air. Inuyasha spun and kicked Zabuza, making him take steps back. Landing on his feet, Inuyasha made a mad dash at Zabuza before shoving his right shoulder into Zabuza's stomach.

Zabuza's lung exhausted the air in them as he was sent hurling yards away, passing through many trees and disappearing from sight. Inuyasha ran after him while Naruto and Hinata stared at the Demon Brothers.

"Hinata-chan," Naruto whispered and Hinata looked at him from the corner of her eye. "Go get Kagome-nee-chan inside the hideout and take her someplace safe. I'll deal with these punks." Naruto said and Hinata was hesitant to go.

"Hinata-chan, this isn't the time to think. Like you told me: 'don't think, just do it!'" Hinata nodded slowly as she went to get Kagome. Gōzu was about to intercept Hinata but Naruto was quicker as he appeared behind Hinata and punched Gōzu in the face. He reeled back in pain and Naruto used him as leverage to jump into the air in a spin.

He stopped spinning long enough to send crimson blades to Meizu. He jumped back and threw kunai at Naruto but Naruto summoned a clone to use as leverage to jump out of the kunai's way.

He landed and on all fours he quickly got behind Meizu. He kicked his back, sending him in the direction of Zabuza and Inuyasha. Naruto laughed when he saw Meizu's face collide with a tree but was quickly put to an end when he was put in a headlock and felt a kunai pocking his back and even puncturing his skin. From the corner of his eye, he saw Hinata slowly lead Kagome back to Tazuna's house. He smirked at this and the idea that just sprouted in his head.

Naruto spun around –ignoring the pain in his back – with Gōzu still on his back before jumping high into the air. Never been so high, Gōzu's grip wavered as he stared down from such a height. Seeing an opportunity, Naruto slipped through Gōzu's hold and summoned up five clones. They each grabbed on to each other's leg except for the original who grabbed onto Gōzu's legs.

The last clone started to spin quickly, making the others spin as well until Naruto let go of Gōzu's legs, sending him higher into the sky. Landing safely on the ground, Naruto waited until he could see Gōzu headed for him again.

Finally, seeing him again, Naruto jumped towards him. He grabbed Gōzu's midsection while upside down, latching onto his back with his head on the left side of Gōzu's hip and his legs wrapped around Gōzu's head. Naruto then flips them over twice before finally driving Gōzu's head into the ground while in the seated position.

"**Naruto Uzumaki Devastation! **_[A/N: Think of the Canadian Destroyer except in the air… don't know what that is, look it up on YouTube and be amazed!]_" Naruto jumped back as Gōzu's body limped and fell carelessly to the side. He was clearly knocked out and the fact that his eyes rolled to the back of his head only proved it.

He turned around and searched for Meizu only to receive a face full of Meizu's fist. He landed behind the unconscious Gōzu as Meizu stared at Naruto with rage. Naruto stood and ran at Meizu only for Meizu to smile, making Naruto stop before he could get close. However, it was too late.

From within the dirt, black shuriken chains rose and surrounded Naruto until he was inside a sphere of chains. Meizu completed five sets of hand signs and was panting but had a smile on his face.

"Try to get out of this one brat! **Ninja Art: Black Chains of Hell!**" The shuriken chains started to come closer towards the center while the shuriken started to spin at untraceable speeds. Inside, Naruto tried his best to use his speed to jump around while simultaneously avoiding any injuries but so far, it was proven to be a futile attempt.

'_Damn it! If I stay here any longer, I'll die!_' Naruto said as he looked around and tried to find a way out of the chains.

'_I'm not going to give up! I promised Hinata-chan I'd give it my all everytime!'_ Taking out his sheath, he made a silent prayer as he found a small opening and shoved the sheath into it. The chains all stopped and Naruto let out a sigh of relief.

Outside, Meizu started to sweat more as he tried to break the sheath and make the shuriken spin again. His chakra was going to run out soon and he realized that it would be better to just kill the brat with his kunai. Letting go of the jutsu, the chains fell to the ground and on top of Naruto. Using the sheath, Naruto pushed away the heavy and sharp chains and freed himself.

He checked his person and saw that he was in one piece. However, one look at his tail and he grew furious.

"HOW THE HELL ARE YOU GOING TO SHAVE MY TAIL, YA BASTARDS!" Naruto shouted as he looked around for the one responsible for his naked tail. "YOU BETTER HOPE IT GROWS BACK!"

"It's not like you'll find out." Meizu said from behind as he stabbed Naruto in the chest. He looked down in pain and agony – the kunai clearly visible and bloody just an inch away from his heart – and then back at Meizu who was smiling triumphantly. Out of nowhere, a second Naruto grabbed Meizu by the head and sent him to the air. With rage, Naruto followed after him and continuously attacked Meizu in the air with countless punches and kicks.

Coming back to the ground, Naruto summoned what little chakra he had left and made hand signs.

"**Wind Style: Wind Sword Jutsu!**" Naruto shouted as a burst of wind surrounded Meizu and random cuts started to show. Blood leaked down before Meizu's body came crashing to the ground. He struggled to raise his head only to stare into Naruto's red eyes. His hand then sprang forward and captured Meizu's neck, choking the life out of him.

A third Naruto popped into existence behind the Naruto holding Meizu about twenty feet behind him. With a quick dash, he closed the gap between them and right before collision, the Naruto holding Meizu let him go just as the running Naruto jumped and drove his shoulder into Meizu's midsection. Thanks to the momentum, Naruto drove him and Meizu into the tree behind them which was the tree supporting Zabuza's hideout.

They produced a hole that began to crack from the sudden hole and from the weight coming from the hideout. The Naruto that speared Meizu popped from existence the moment he crashed against the tree. The Naruto that held Meizu also disappeared, leaving a dying Naruto alone with an unconscious Gōzu and Meizu and a collapsing hideout.

With a bloody smirk and chuckle full of mirth, Naruto closed his eyes as the tree slowly shadowed him and he lost consciousness from lack of blood just as the tree slammed onto the ground.

**[*.*.*.*]**

Zabuza chucked Inuyasha back as they landed near the bridge. He smirked as he set his plan into motion and ran to the bridge. Inuyasha scowled as he ran after him. Without hesitation, Inuyasha ran on top of the water and quickly caught up to Zabuza.

Zabuza was aware of his presence so he ducked when Inuyasha almost sliced him in two. Jumping up, he glued his feet to the wall of the bridge and climbed up. Inuyasha followed with a mad leap upward and over the bridge's safety fence, landing on the sidewalk. Zabuza leaped over him and landed a few feet away.

"Inuyasha?" Inuyasha turned his head and was surprised, but not completely surprised to see Kakashi, Sasuke and some old man.

"Kakashi."

"Zabuza."

"Great, now that we've all met, can we do something about this guy?" Inuyasha asked and Zabuza was hesitant to fight now.

"Yeah, let's do this." Kakashi said as he moved his head band out of his Sharingan eye's way. Zabuza growled as he thought of a way to get out of this mess. Of course he knew going against both these two was not going to end in his favor but he wasn't afraid of them. Far from it. However, in his current position and what Haku told him the other day, the more allies he had, the better off he'd be.

He was dead set on saying what he had too without looking weak or in need of help of any kind.

"As much as I'd love to fight both of you, there's something that you should know." Zabuza said and Inuyasha snarled.

"Save it, we're not here to talk," Holding Tessaiga, Inuyasha swung it up and down in a test of his dexterity. "We're here to fight and words are useless in a fight."

"Idiots." The three looked up and saw two demons floating in the sky. One looked like a man with long black hair with the other looked like an actually demons from folktales.

"Fight to your heart's content, in the end, all of you will fall to our hands." Manten said with a chuckle and Hiten joined him.

"Your backup?" Inuyasha asked and Zabuza shook his head.

"My assassins." He said and he sighed. "Truce?" Kakashi and Inuyasha looked at each other.

"For now, we'll see how this ends up later though." Kakshi said and Zabuza smirked under his gauze.

"And we still ned to finish our fight." Inuyasha said and Zabuza stared into Inuyasha's eyes.

"Wouldn't have it any other way." The three faced the two demons who were smirking down at them.

"Sasuke, sit this one out. Make sure Tazuna stays safe." Sasuke scowled but nodded. He knew when things were over his head and even though he wished it was, this was one of those times when he just had to sit out.

Suddenly, from one side of the bride, hundreds among thousands of bandits and swordsmen appeared, each with a smirk on their faces.

"It appears as though Gato supplied us with some backup." Hiten said and Manten laughed.

"Or sacrifices. Either way, this will be a fun day." Manten roared as dark clouds encircled the area. Wavering but not completely afraid, Gato's henchmen continued to come closer to Tazuna, Sasuke, Kakashi, Zabuza and Inuyasha.

"Looks like you'll do something after all Sasuke." Kakashi said with some mirth. "Just be careful; just because you are a shinobi doesn't mean you can't be hurt by a normal guy with a sharp object." Kakashi reminded and Sasuke nodded his head. With a feeling a foreboding, Kakashi prepared himself for the biggest fight of his life so far.

* * *

**That's it! hope ya liked it!**

**By the way, the whole advice Hinata gave Naruto... I'm not sure if that's true ^^;... Its just how I live by... When I don't think about doing whatever I'm supposed to do - like play my guitar in front of my class for example - then I perform a lot better...**

**Well, I'm too sad about my girl leaving that I really don't feel like writing an author note...**

**Still, I gotta say that the latest manga chapters of Naruto have ben an enigma to me... Some were good others bad and cliche-ish... **

**Dark naruto? hollow Ichigo? Sound/seem familiar?**

**Eh, well I'm gunna talk to my girl for the rest of the night! I'm seriously gunna miss her and again, sorry if my writing sucks from here till august... I don't think it will but who knows... **

**I'M GUNNA MISS HER SOOO MUCH...**

**Next Chapter: The howl of the fallen fox...**

**Till next time!**

******Good luck with whatever and if you got a problem with me or one of my stories, please feel free to: Deal with it, Get over it or Choke on it...**


	17. The howl of the fallen fox

**Yo...**

**Sorry it took my so long to update but I've been a bit down in the dumps... that's right, I said down in the dumps, so what?**

**But I'm not gunna bore you with the small details...**

**And I'm sorry to say that I didn't completely check over the entire chapter since A) its waaay too long for my attention span and 2) I don't have enough time... With my lack of time, I decided to post it and deal with it at a later time since my goal of entering the Navy is pretty much taking up a lot of my time, especially with the PT at 7 in the morning...**

**Sorry again...**

**Chapter 17: The howl of the fallen fox and the tear of the desperate angel...**

**I don't own naruto or inuyasha...**

* * *

Kakashi, Inuyasha and Zabuza stared up at the Thunder Brothers while Sasuke stood fifty feet away from an army of Gato's men. Kakashi looked back at Gato's men and then turned his eyes towards Zabuza.

"You mind helping my student?" He asked and Zabuza growled. "I don't think he can handle all of them at once and besides, Inuyasha and I have this covered." Kakashi added and Zabuza scoffed.

"Fine but you owe me big, Hatake." Zabuza stated and Kakashi nodded while removing his headband from his left eye. Zabuza jumped and landed next to Sasuke who was shaking.

"You're not going to quit on me now, are you brat?" Sasuke stopped shaking and a smirk appeared on his lips.

"Not on your life." Sasuke said as he stared intently at the bandits in front of him. Zabuza stared at Sasuke before chuckling.

"If only Haku was more like you." Zabuza gripped his zanbatō tightly and got into a running position. "Let's go kid." Zabuza ran at the bandits, followed by Sasuke who was not as fast but still fast enough to catch the bandits off guard. Closing the gap quickly, Zabuza swung his zanbatō and cleaved six men in half with little to no effort.

Not wanting to be sliced in two, Sasuke decided to go on the other side, opposite to Zabuza and attack. Sasuke ducked under one man's horizontal swipe of his blade and Sasuke threw his fist up and connected with the bandit's chin. The bandit took a few steps back but before Sasuke could take advantage of his loss of balance, more bandits tried to kill him so he jumped back.

'_There's too many to just fight head on.´ _Sasuke closed his eyes as he made quick hand signs. _'May kami have mercy on your souls.'_ Sasuke prayed as he brought two if his finger next to his mouth and took a deep breath.

'_**Fire Style: Grand Fireball Jutsu!**__'_ Sasuke sent a massive fireball at the bandits in front of him and a portion of the bandits were cremated; those close enough were burned but still able to fight. Sasuke then ran and jumped over the fire, landing near the edge of the bridge.

Making hand signs, Sasuke turned around while having his index and middle finger near his mouth.

"**Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!**" The bandits around Sasuke started to fall one by one as they either fell to the flames or to the shuriken hidden inside the flames.

Zabuza smirked as he watched Sasuke take down the bandits without hesitation. He figured he either killed before or seen death; either way, it was better than him freezing in the middle of this battle. He really didn't want to stop his progress just to save a scared brat.

Slicing another four men into pieces, Zabuza noticed that there was ruckus coming from the other end of the bridge. Stopping for a moment, Zabuza was surprised to see lightning coming out of the ugly demon's mouth.

His senses kicked in and he stopped a sneak attack from one of the bandit's katana strike with his zanbatō. Turning around, he faced the bandit who snarled.

"Big mistake." Zabuza cocked his free hand back and punched the bandit in the stomach, sending him back and crashing against some of his comrades.

***.*.*.***

Kakashi jumped back once more as Manten tried to blast him with a lightning blast.

"Run mortal, run!" Manten taunted as he blasted another lightning strike. Kakashi jumped back and landed on all fours as he watched Manten look at him with a predatory smirk.

'_This is not good, he has to be a demon. That would explain the lack of hand signs and chakra. This is bad, really bad.'_ Kakashi turned his head to see Inuyasha pushing Hiten back with Tessaiga. _'Even worse, Inuyasha didn't start the fight at 100 percent and it looks like Hiten will tire him out. Damn it.'_

Kakashi rolled out of Manten's lightning way and saw said demon laughing at him.

"You are most entertaining human." Manten's smile disappeared as Kakashi started making hand signs. "What's this?" Kakashi smirked.

'_I only have one shot; otherwise, this could end badly for me.'_

"**Ninja Art: Hidden Mist Jutsu!**" Manten lost sight of Kakashi as a mist surrounded them. Manten chuckled with enjoyment until he felt two hands grab his left arm and then his right. He looked on both sides and saw two Kakashis holding him down.

"You think this will hold me?" Manten then heard the sound of lightning a few feet in front of him. He faintly saw a blue light through the mist and frowned.

"I've had enough!" Manten forced his arms in front of him and made the two Kakashis clash together, their color faded but they remained as beings of lightning before shocking Manten. He was caught off guard and failed to notice that the mist had become scarce.

"This is it!" Manten looked up to see Kakashi running at him with blue lightning in his hands.

"I will not be defeated here!" Manten shouted as he blasted lighting at Kakashi, hoping to stop him.

"I probably should've told you my attack's name!" Kakashi said as he thrust his hand forward and cut Manten's lightning down the middle. Manten gasped in surprise and Kakashi used this opportunity to appear before Manten and shove his lightning covered hand through his heart.

"**Lightning Blade.** It gained that name when I used it to slice a lightning bolt in half." Kakashi smirked as Manten's surprised look never faded. "But I'm sure you know that by now." Kakashi placed his feet on Manten and kicked him back to release his hand and to send Manten's corpse over the bridge and into the water.

Kakashi panted as he covered his Sharingan eye; pulling off the two Lightning Shadow Clones, the Hidden Mist Jutsu and the Lightning Blade was no easy feat. In fact, he was surprised that the Lightning Shadow Clones worked at all. The last time he tried that, they expired too early and he paid a pretty hefty price.

As he caught his second wind, he saw that Inuyasha was doing a lot better than he expected.

***.*.*.***

Inuyasha lashed out at Hiten who used his advantage of flying to give him some space from the dog hanyō. Inuyasha chuckled as he tried to control his breathing.

He wasn't incredibly tired but he really didn't want to show any kind of weakness to the Thunder Demon.

"Fool, you should give up now. My brother will kill your odd friend and then go for the old man, the child and the other mortals. This fight was decided the moment Gato hired my brother and me." Inuyasha growled at Hiten's cockiness. He then looked in Kakashi's direction before smirking.

"The only fool here is you. Look and you'll see for yourself that your brother's gonna die by my friend's hands." Hiten looked and saw Manten about to blast Kakashi with a lightning bolt.

"We shall see but for now…" Hiten made his right palm face Inuyasha as a sphere of thunder appeared. "We will see which one of us is stronger!" He shouted as the thunder sphere raced towards Inuyasha. Inuyasha prepared himself as he reared Tessaiga back and brought it down just as the thunder sphere was about to hit him.

He struggled with the sphere for a while before he was able to launch it back only for Hiten to lazily grab it with his left hand. He chuckled as he tossed it back at Inuyasha.

'_Damn it, I probably shouldn't block it again.'_ Inuyasha thought as he jumped back and let the sphere hit the bridge, leaving a good portion of it destroyed.

'_Probably shouldn't fight here either.'_ Inuyasha thought with a sweat drop. He looked up and saw Hiten preparing another thunder sphere. Inuyasha leapt towards Hiten and with a strong swipe, he was able to cut the thunder sphere in half before it hit him and appeared in front of Hiten who was caught off guard.

"You're mine!" Inuyasha shouted as he swung Tessaiga to cut Hiten through his waist. Hiten snapped out of his stupor as he blocked Tessaiga with his halberd, Raijekin. The momentum however was too great, sending Hiten crashing onto the bridge. Inuyasha landed in the water and quickly climbed up the bridge and stood on top of the fence.

He was surprised to hear laughing coming from Hiten who was slowly getting up.

"Nice shot, you actually broke the wheels that enable me to fly… but now it's my turn." Hiten ran at Inuyasha and thrust his right fist forward only for it to collide against a wall made of ice. "What…?"

"The hell is this?" Inuyasha interjected as Haku appeared in the ice wall and punched Hiten in the face. He took a couple of steps back and growled.

"Another human; you humans pop up out of nowhere like roaches." Hiten barked but Haku didn't retort as he walked out of the wall of ice and making it evaporate.

"I don't need your help… but I'm sure Zabuza would." Haku looked at Inuyasha before turning his head towards Zabuza and Sasuke. Zabuza was handling his own but Sasuke looked like he was starting to tire.

"Alright, I'll go." Before he could go, Inuyasha grabbed his arm.

"Where's Naruto?" Inuyasha asked and Haku looked away.

"He's fine but…" he trailed off and Inuyasha growled.

"But what?" He shouted.

"He was injured badly. I did what I could with my limited supplies but… I'm not sure if that's enough." Inuyasha snarled as he punched Haku's face.

"Then why did you come here?" Inuyasha asked and Haku spat out some blood in his mouth.

"Because whether I like it or not, the lives of hundreds can never be put behind the life of one." Haku said, his words making Inuyasha release him. "I'm sorry." Haku then ran to help Zabuza and Sasuke with the horde of bandits.

Inuyasha gripped Tessiaga tightly as he bared his teeth.

'_You better be alive, Naruto.'_

**[*.*.*.*]**

In the middle of a forest, next to a fallen tree, Naruto rested against the tree with his chest slowly rising a falling. It started to decrease and decrease until finally it stopped all together.

All was silent until a growling sound came from the stock still Naruto. It was low and constant as Naruto slowly stood with his head bowed and his hair blocking his eyes. Red energy started to surround him as the wound in his chest quickly closed and the blood stopped pouring out of it. His tail twisted and turned until fur popped out.

Naruto bared his teeth as more growling and snarls came from his mouth. He hissed when the sword attached to his waist started to shine a pure white light. He tried to touch it but the close his hand got, the more it began to burn. He growled at it before swatting it away and watching it as the light began to dull.

His nose suddenly picked up a scent and his lips curled upward in a smirk. Taking slow steps, Naruto headed for the bridge where his next meal was waiting for him. His hunger started to get the best of him and soon, he was running at full speed, now nothing more than a stream of blue, red and orange.

Minutes later, Hinata appeared next to the fallen tree and gasped.

'_Naruto-kun… please be ok.'_ She thought and gasped again when she saw the 'sword' she bought for him. She picked it up and it pulsed a few times. She looked at it with astonishment and fear. It then began to tug towards the direction of the bridge and she looked in that direction. A second later, she saw a large explosion and then its cloud.

She shook her head and decided to follow the direction the sword was pulled towards. She hoped it would lead her to Naruto.

**[*.*.*.*]**

Inuyasha brought his sword down only for it to be blocked by Hiten and countered by a kick to the stomach. Inuyasha doubled over and Hiten jumped over him to kick him behind his head. He fell and stopped himself from hitting the floor with a knee to the ground only for Hiten to clasp his hands together and bring it down on Inuyasha's head.

His face hit the ground and he was about to get up until Hiten slammed his right foot onto the back of his head, burying him into the bridge.

"You're just a lowly… WORM!" Hiten shouted as he forced his foot down again, driving Inuyasha head even more into the bridge. He brought his foot up again to slam it against his head again but Inuyasha caught it before it could reach him. "Still have some fight, do you?" Hiten asked but was caught off guard when Inuyasha weakly stood while still having a strong hold on Hiten's foot.

He stood up and grabbed Tessaiga that was lying next to him.

"I'm done playing." Inuyasha said as he drove Tessaiga into Hiten who gasped but then smirked.

"Fool, you don't play with me…" In a bolt of thunder, Hiten appeared ten feet away from Inuyasha while holding his wound. "I'm the one who does all the playing." He brought both hands in front of him and a sphere of thunder larger than the one before it appeared.

"Now die." Hiten said as the sphere ricocheted out of his hands and headed towards Inuyasha. He cursed in his mind; he couldn't let the sphere hit the bridge or the old man's work would be wasted but he couldn't take another blast, especially from this one.

His thoughts were interrupted when he felt tainted chakra and demonic energy rushing at him faster than the thunder sphere. His eyes widened when Naruto appeared in between him and the deadly sphere.

"Naruto, you idiot! Get out of the way!" However, Inuyasha's words fell on death ears as Naruto turned towards the thunder sphere and stopped it with his hands. He grunted and growled but soon enough he opened his mouth and started to literally inhale the sphere. Inuyasha gaped at this and was speechless through the entire event. Even Hiten was speechless to the odd sight.

When Naruto devoured the entire thing, he took in a deep breath that held some sparks of electricity and let it out through his nose. With the air came out some fire that shocked both Hiten and Inuyasha.

Inuyasha blinked as he took in Naruto's new look. His entire appearance looked more feral; with even spikier hair, claws, fangs, red eyes with slit pupils and thicker fangs. This wasn't his younger brother; this was his demon side.

Naruto growled with an evil smirk as he disappeared and his demonic aura vanished with him.

"That was… odd." Inuyasha stated and jumped to the left when Hiten threw his Raijekin. Inuyasha growled as he ran at Hiten with Tessaiga in hand. Hiten blasted another thunder sphere after another, making Inuyasha curse and jump out of the way of each sphere. Avoiding the last sphere, Inuyasha jumped and reared Tessaiga back.

"This is it-"

"Not yet it isn't!" Hiten yelled as he brought his right arm forward, calling Raijekin. Inuyasha didn't notice until Raijekin pierced his stomach. He spat up blood but it didn't slow him down as he brought Tessaiga down and sliced Hiten in half.

"Now it is." Inuyash said with a smirk as he wiped Hiten's blood off Tessaiga. He grabbed both sides of Hiten before tossing them over the bridge and into the water. He looked back at where Naruto's demonic energy was its strongest and sighed.

"Not again Naruto… not again…"

***.*.*.***

Sasuke panted as the never-ending sea of bandits continued to try to skewer him. His agility was wavering and his strength and breath were close behind it.

"Damn it!" Sasuke shouted as he threw another kunai and abruptly ending another life. "I'm going to go insane at this rate." Sasuke said to himself as he jumped away to give himself some room to breathe.

True, he had experienced death over and over again thanks to his brother. In fact, he guessed that he would be frozen stiff after his first kill if he had been anyone else. Still, taking life after life after life over and over again was starting to take its hold on his psyche.

His will to kill another person broke and he panted as he threw another kunai but this time it only hit a man's leg, slowing him down. Sasuke cursed as his vision began to blur and men started to appear like roaches.

'_Damn it all!'_ He thought as he staggered back and kept a hand on the fence bordering the bridge to keep himself up. _'I only have one food pill left and even then I don't think it would be a good idea to take it.' _Sasuke thought as he threw a smoke bomb to the ground to use as a cover to retreat.

Coming out of the smoke, he looked up and saw movement in the corner of his eye. Turning his head to the right, he was surprised to see a feral looking Naruto run in the middle of the crowd of bandits. Sasuke thought he was insane and was only proven right when all the bandits pointed their katanas and other weapons to impale his blond teammate.

The action itself seemed to slow down as Sasuke saw slowly and in great detail, one by one, the weapons try to enter Naruto. To Sasuke's surprise, Naruto jumped into the air at the last minute and cleanly sliced the bandits around him in half. He landed and continued his assault until one brave bandit jumped on Naruto and held him down.

Sasuke could only watch as the bandit seemed to burn while he held on to Naruto. His heart began to race as he saw bandits position their weapons to pierce Naruto and the bandit holding him. With a quick thrust, over ten weapons entered and pierced Naruto's skin.

"NARUTO!" Sasuke shouted as he quickly swallowed the food pill and felt his strength return. His heart ached a bit but he ignored it as he used his new found sight and strength to appear next to his fallen comrade.

"GET THE HELL AWAY!" Sasuke shouted as he made fast hand signs and put his index and middle finger next to his lips. "**Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!**" Sasuke shouted as the fireball hit many bandits and made the other take a step back.

Kakashi, who decided to help Zabuza and Sasuke, noticed Sasuke standing over a downed Naruto. His visible eye widened as he grabbed his kunai and cut through the bandits to reach his students.

"Naruto… Sasuke."

"GET BACK!" Sasuke shouted angrily as he grabbed a kunai from his pouch and threw it in Kakashi's direction thinking he was another bandit. Kakashi caught it and looked down solemnly at him and his other student. "Kakashi… I tried…" Sasuke said and Kakashi's eye widened again.

"Sasuke, your eye… you've finally done it." Kakashi said and Sasuke blinked. "You activated your eyes." Sasuke growled.

"I don't give a damn!" His words shocked Kakashi. "Get Naruto out of here!" Kakashi nodded before picking Naruto up. Sasuke turned around and the bandits running at him seemed to be taking their sweet time. Sasuke gripped his kunai tightly as he ran at each bandit and skillfully sliced their throat or pierced their heart.

'_Damn it! Don't die dobe… My dream and your dream still haven't been fulfilled.'_ Sasuke thought as he brought down more bandits, remembering their conversation the day before Naruto learned how to walk on water successfully.

_Sasuke watched as Naruto got out of the water for what seemed like the thirtieth time that hour. Sasuke was currently taking a break from it as he tried to figure this technique out. His thoughts however were interrupted by Naruto's attempts and curse words._

"_Dobe." Naruto stopped and looked back at Sasuke._

"_Teme." Sasuke stood and walked to the edge of the water._

"_Why are you still trying? Why don't you take a break?" Sasuke asked and Naruto smirked._

"_Because I want to get this down as soon as possible." Naruto answered and Sasuke groaned._

"_You're acting like a dobe, dobe." Sasuke stated and Naruto laughed._

"_I am what I am teme." Naruto retorted before walking over to Sasuke. "Why aren't you trying harder? Isn't your dream all about killing your brother?" Naruto asked with a knowing smile only to be grabbed by Sasuke and pushed back._

"_Don't EVER talk about my brother, dobe." Sasuke said and Naruto stood as his smile was replaced with a frown. "Now listen-"_

"_No Sasuke, you listen." Naruto pushed Sasuke back and made him land on his butt. "I don't know exactly what happened but I know enough to say that what happened to you and your family sucks. It really, truly, undoubtedly sucks!" Naruto shouted._

"_But you shouldn't let this get to you the way it is. Fine, get stronger, get faster, smarter, taller, older, whatever it is you have to do to finally kill your brother but don't let it control you." Naruto said with certainty before it changed to a sad tone. "You think I don't know how it feels to be alone. The isolation alone can drive you insane, swallow you whole and make you do crazy things that you normally wouldn't do if you thinking right._

"_Still, you have to fight it Sasuke; don't let your dream, or in your case your hatred, get the better of you. Look at me, I want to be Hokage one day and get the respect of everyone in Konoha but that's not going to happen if I just devote all my time to getting stronger. I need to show the people that I'm more than a tool and a demon." Sasuke blinked as Naruto held his hand out. "As much as I hate to admit it, I'm gonna need some help along the way._

"_Together, we can make both our dreams become reality; together, along with Kakashi-sensei, Hinata-chan and even aniki, nothing can stop us!" Naruto said and Sasuke stared at Naruto's hand with awe before taking it. Naruto helped him up and turned to continue his training._

"_Now let's give this our all so we can take the next step to completing our dreams."_

'_I'll never forgive you if you die now dobe.' _ Sasuke thought as he burned another group of bandits.

Kakashi watched his student massacre more bandits. Before any more action could be taken, Kakashi felt his hands burn and he looked down to see red chakra and demonic energy surround Naruto. He slowly put him down and watched as Naruto opened his eyes and Kakashi stared into his red eyes before they vanished.

'_Oh no…' _Kakashi saw Naruto appeared in front of bandits and slicing them in half with his claws. His tail grabbed another by his neck and snapped it, killing the man instantly. Naruto continued to go wild as Sasuke, Haku and Zabuza all watched in fear and awe as Naruto devastated the rest of the bandits.

"They only made him angrier." Kakashi stated as Naruto pierced one bandits' chest with his claw while another's head was smashed with Naruto's foot. His tail straightened itself out and slivered a man in half from his waist.

"N-Naruto." Sasuke stuttered as he, Haku and Zabuza appeared next to Kakashi.

"So he was your village's jinchuuriki." Zabuza stated more than asked though it still earned a nod from Kakashi. Naruto let out a feral growl as Kakashi noticed the hundred or so bandits left wavered from his growl.

As Naruto ripped a man's arm out with his mouth, he stopped and began to sniff the air. His lips curved downward before he ran past the bandits and Kakashi, Sasuke, Zabuza and Haku.

Inuyasha slowly walked over to where he saw Kakashi while holding his midsection. The Raijekin was really a troublesome weapon and Inuyasha was glad it was gone from his body. Suddenly, a strong wind passed him and left a few drops of blood on him. Inuyasha sniffed and blinked as he realized that the bloody air that just passed him was Naruto.

When he turned his eyes widened in shock and rage.

**[*.*.*.*]**

Hinata was only a few yards away from coming into view of the bridge when suddenly a green wipe made of energy made her stop but wrapping itself around her legs.

"AH!" She yelped out in pain as the sting of the green wipe not only burned but also made her fall on her face. "I-Itai."

She looked up and gasped when she saw Sesshōmaru of all people standing stoically in front of her with Jaken smiling behind him.

"S-Sesshōmaru." Hinata stuttered out in fear and Sesshōmaru titled his head back a little.

"I see you still remember me… and what an interesting weapon you current hold." He stated and a bit of anger mixed in with Hinata's fear.

"I-It's hard to f-forget…" Hinata stopped and steeled herself before standing and glaring at Sesshōmaru who frowned deeply. "It's hard to forget someone who kidnapped my friend." Hinata said confidently and Sesshōmaru silently growled.

"Do not speak to Sesshōmaru-sama that way brat!" Jaken shouted and would've continued but Sesshōmaru silenced him with a wave of his hand.

"I am not here to fight, just to retrieve something that belongs to me." Sesshōmaru said and Hinata took a step back.

"A-And what would that b-be?" She asked.

"The Shikon Jewel." Hinata gasped as she took another step back.

"I-I-I don't have it!" Hinata stammered and Sesshōmaru shook his head.

"You lie; I can see it in your eyes. You currently possess the Shikon Jewel." Sesshōmaru stated and Hinata broke out in a run, passing Sesshōmaru and Jaken.

"Sesshōmaru-sama, shouldn't we go after her?" Jaken asked and Sesshōmaru nodded.

Hinata focused her chakra to her feet and jumped on top of the water. Finding her footing, she ran across and up the bridge wall. She gasped when she saw Sesshōmaru landed just above her. Hinata changed her course and jumped over him. She landed and turned to see Sesshōmaru with an amused smirk.

"You're a very interesting human." He stated. He walked over to Hinata but frowned when he saw a bloody Naruto appear in between him and Hinata.

"N-N-Naruto… k-kun?" Naruto didn't respond as he growled at Sesshōmaru. Sesshōmaru snarled at him as his right hand shined a green light.

"Get out of my way; you're not the one who interests me." He said as his Whip of Light lashed out at Naruto who jumped away just before it hit him. He snarled again as he dodged another whip. However, He wasn't fast enough to dodge a third whip and his leg began to burn. Hinata watched as Naruto continued to dodge the whips and sometimes get hit until she was snapped out of it by a pulse in her hand.

She looked down and saw the sword's pulse become quicker and stronger. She looked back at Naruto and saw that the sword was trying to go to Naruto. She ran at Naruto and tried to give him the sword but he turned and pushed her back with his tail. The tail was surrounded by his demonic energy so when it touched Hinata, it burned her cheek.

Hinata flinched as she touched her somewhat burned cheek before looking at Naruto again. She steeled herself as she ran at him and with the sword still in her hand. Naruto turned and was about to push her again but Hinata was much quicker and avoided his tail. She hugged him while having the sword touch him as well.

"Come back Naruto-kun." Hinata repeated over and over as she held onto Naruto like a lifeline. Naruto's growls slowly died down as the demonic energy receded into him. Hi arms fell to his sides and Hinata looked up at him with hopeful lavender eyes.

Naruto's half closed cerulean eyes stared down and connected with hers and he got lost in her eyes. Then they both noticed that Naruto's right hand was holding on to the sword and both were glowing a mysterious red glow.

Hinata let go of Naruto just as Naruto pulled out the sword from the sheath and the hilt started to suck in all of Naruto's red demonic energy. A blinding light then came from the sword causing everyone to look away until the light died down and when it did, everyone had to gasp at seeing Naruto's sword.

The blade was as black as night and was a lot bigger than a regular sized katana but nowhere near the same stature as Inuyasha's or Zabuza's. An inch of dark red gauze was wrapped around the bottom of the blade as it traveled down to the hilt where it combined with black and white gauze.

"This is…" Naruto paused as he continued to stare at the sword in awe. He then smirked as he swiped the sword around for a bit. "This is awesome!" Naruto cheered before looking down at Hinata.

"Oh hey, Hinata-cha-" Naruto's eyes rolled to the back of his head as he fell to the ground unconscious. Hinata caught his head before it smashed into the pavement.

"Naruto-kun?" She cried as he continued to be unresponsive. She noticed that the injuries he sustained from his earlier fight with the Demon Brothers, the bandits and with Sesshōmaru were starting to get to him. "No, Naruto-kun, answer me!" Hinata continued and Sesshōmaru shook his head. Hinata looked up and frowned.

"The fool should've stayed down." Sesshōmaru said and Hinata's frown turned into a scowl. The Shikon Jewel hanging around her neck started to glow and Sesshōmaru raised his left eyebrow a little.

"So I was correct, I see." He stated and Hinata held onto the Shikon Jewel from under her sweater. She looked down at it and saw that the Jewel was pure in contrast to the tainted look it had when she first had it. She looked back at Sesshōmaru and closed her eyes.

"Y-You… You can't have it." Hinata stated as she opened her eyes and Sesshōmaru scowled.

"Very well." Sesshōmaru started walking towards Hinata. She stood up and started running towards Sesshōmaru. He stopped and patiently waited for Hinata and easily evaded a chakra powered palm to the stomach. She continued to try and hurt Sesshōmaru but both knew that she wasn't strong enough.

Hinata didn't care though, she wasn't fighting to win.

"You… don't know… anything… about… Naruto-kun!" Hinata said as he continued her relentless attack. "He is… not… a fool. He's… a great… shinobi… friend… comrade and teammate!" Hinata continued as the Jewel 's glow brightened.

'_I… I can't hit him, he's too fast for me. I just want to be stronger to be able to protect everyone… to protect Naruto-kun… Kami, help me protect him.'_ Hinata thought as the Shikon Jewel became bright and shocked Sesshōmaru when it enveloped Hinata.

His eye narrowed when two angelic wings sprouted from behind Hinata's back and a bow appeared in her right hand. It was a milky white and looked like angels crafted it.

Hinata opened her eyes and her once lavender eyes where now as white as snow. She wordlessly brought the bow up and aimed it at Sesshōmaru's heart. A bow made entirely of pure white energy appeared and a second later, Hinata shout the arrow.

Sesshōmaru narrowly avoided the arrow and stared at Hinata solemnly before his eyes widened as he looked down as saw that his sleeve that was an inch away from the arrow was cut. He growled as Hinata prepared to fire another arrow.

"Not this time." He growled as he quickly ran besides Hinata before she could release the arrow and picked her up by her neck. He brought her up to eye level but noticed that she didn't flinch, didn't squirm or even seemed to be choking. She was just silent, calm and impassive.

She slowly grabbed his wrist with her left hand and Sesshōmaru felt his flesh start to burn. He growled as he let her go and tried to kick her. She, however, twisted her body away from his kick and jumped back to shoot him with another Shikon arrow.

Yards away, Kakashi, Inuyasha, Zabuza, Haku and Sasuke watched in astonishment as Hinata continued to give Sesshōmaru a run for his money.

"I didn't know… Hinata had this kind of power." Kakashi said and Inuyasha shook his head.

"It's not hers… it's the power of the Shikon Jewel." Everyone looked at Inuyasha, hoping to receive an explanation but he refused to utter another word.

Sesshōmaru eyed the Jewel hanging around Hinata's neck and shook his head. He used his speed once again to move faster than Hinata's eye could follow and appeared behind her. He grabbed onto her left arm and with little force, broke it.

No sound came from Hinata though a single tear dropped down from Hinata's left eye. Sesshōmaru then ripped the Shikon Jewel off her and through reflexes alone; Hinata turned and swatted Sesshōmaru's hands away, also swatting the Shikon Jewel away from them.

It rolled to the edge of the bridge and stopped at the fence bordering the bridge.

The white light that surrounded Hinata faded and she fell to her knees and grabbing her left arm in agony. She let out a ear-piercing scream as the pain enveloped her to the brink of unconsciousness. Before her body hit the ground, she was caught by Zabuza who picked her up and carried her over to Naruto.

Sesshōmaru suddenly appeared in front of the Jewel but jumped back when Inuyasha almost sliced him in half with Tessaiga.

"Stay back, I'm not about to let you take the Shikon Jewel." Inuyasha growled out and snarled at his brother's apathetic stare. Sesshōmaru closed his eyes and let out a silent breath.

"It's already over, brother." Inuyasha was about to ask him something but didn't get the chance when he was kicked from behind by Jaken.

"Stupid half-demon!" Jaken shouted in victory as he crouched down to pick up the Shikon Jewel only for Kakashi to snatch it from his hands and eye smile.

"Why thank you." Kakashi said happily before jumping back, avoiding getting hit with the Staff of two Heads. "Wiley little imp, aren't you?" Kakashi teased as Sesshōmaru stopped Kakashi from running away. Kakashi's single eye widened as he felt smaller in the presence of the Lord of the Western Lands.

"Give me the Shikon Jewel, human." Kakashi sweat dropped as he dropped the Shikon Jewel on the floor and jumped away.

"Kakashi, you idiot!" Inuyasha shouted and Kakashi glared at Inuyasha.

"All our students are incapacitated or are unable to continue fighting. You and I, even Zabuza and Haku aren't in any condition to be fighting any more than we should." Kakashi looked back at Sesshōmaru. "And he's too much for us right now. Let's let him leave and deal with the remaining bandits." Inuyasha growled as he watched Sesshōmaru begin to leave.

"W-Wait for me, Sesshōmaru-sama!" Jaken shouted as he ran after Sesshōmaru. As they disappeared from sight, Inuyasha growled and grabbed Kakashi by his collar.

"You're an idiot!" Inuyasha growled and Kakashi lazily stared back before reaching into his vest pocket and showing Inuyasha the Shikon Jewel. Inuyasha gaped as he grabbed the Jewel and examined it.

"Am I still an idiot?" Kakashi asked.

"Yeah, you still are." Kakashi sweat dropped, not really expecting that answer.

"So not only were you a disappointment Zabuza, but the Thunder Brothers as well?" Everyone looked to see the bandits make way for their boss, Gato. Inuyasha pocketed the Shikon Jewel before anyone could see it. The short criminal smirked deviously as he noticed the state of everyone present.

"Looks like my men will be more than enough to kill everyone and still have enough energy to raid this pathetic town for all its worth!" Gato shouted and his men shouted in rejoice and agreement. Tazuna clenched his fist tightly as he bowed his head. His body shook with rage as he tried not to run to Gato and kill him with his bare hands.

Tazuna looked up when he felt someone place their hand on his shoulder. He saw that it was Kakashi.

"Today, Gato's oppressive rule will end." Kakashi said and Tazuna gulped and nodded.

"But how?" Tazuna questioned. His seemingly answerless question was answered when a bow made of pure energy zipped through the group of bandits and hit Gato in the chest. He fell back and everyone turned in surprised to see a woman wearing a black cloak panting heavily as she stood in the stance of an archer. Behind her was everyone who lived in the Land of Waves, the ones who were tired of Gato and his greed.

Gato sat up with the help of his men and gasped as he saw the indigenous people of the Land of Waves.

"K-Kagome?" Inuyasha stuttered and Kagome smiled as Inari caught her before she fell and supported her. He locked eyes with Kakashi and smiled confidently. Kakashi couldn't help but remember Inari yelling at him and Team 7 to give up and go home. That it was hopeless to fight against Gato and his men; that it would lead to their deaths.

Naruto tried to explain to him, well, more like beat into him, that nothing is set in stone and with the right amount of strength and determination, anything was possible. At first, Kakashi thought Naruto's words hadn't sunk in. Apparently, it just took a little longer for the words to set in.

Kagome panted deeply as she looked down at Inari and smiled. Inari smiled back as he tried to stop his helmet from covering his eyes. Inari let Kagome go as she started to walk across the bridge and stand next to Inuyasha.

"This town is done with you Gato. They finally found the strength to fight back, the courage to stand up to you…" Tazuna grabbed a pickaxe and swung it over his shoulder.

"And the will to win." Tazuna finished while looking back at Kagome and the fallen Naruto. He then completely faced his fellow townsmen and women as he held his pickaxe in the air.

"This is the start of a new era!" He shouted and everyone shouted in agreement and enthusiasm. Gato and his men began to panic as they saw everyone make their way towards them.

"N-Now, now, I'm sure we c-could come to some s-sort of agreement." Gato stuttered out in a pitiable attempt to live.

"Did you give my father 'some sort of agreement'?" Inari shouted in anger and Gato growled.

"He was a foolish man; men like him don't need to be agreed with, they need to be broken down." Gato said with certainty. Inari, along with his grandfather, shook with remorse, pain and rage.

"Then there's nothing to agree to. This is it Gato, not even Kami could save you from your fate." Tazuna said as his men started to run away the closer the people of the Land of Waves. Gato sat alone as he stared at the backs of the bandits.

"COWARDS!" Gato shouted before noticing that Tazuna was standing over him.

"They might be cowards but you… you're worse than that. You're scum." Tazuna shouted as he raised his pickaxe above his head to finally end Gato's trade monopoly.

"Inuyasha," Inuyasha turned his head towards Kakashi as Kakashi walked over to Naruto. "We still need to treat our students." Kakashi stated and Inuyasha nodded dumbly.

"Come on Inuyasha." Kagome said as she also walked over to Hinata and the others. A second later, cheers could be heard over the bridge but Inuyasha ignored them. His eye light up as he stared at the Shikon Jewel.

'_I can't believe it's in my hands… The Shikon Jewel. After all these years, here it is.'_ Inuyasha thought as he failed to notice the jewel becoming tainted.

"Let's head back to Tazuna's place; Naruto needs immediate medical attention." Inuyasha looked back and saw Kakashi pick Naruto up while a random townswoman helped Kagome stand on her feet and Haku helped Sasuke walk around. Zabuza attached his zanbatō to his back before picking Hinata up and following Sasuke as he slowly followed after their unconscious teammate.

Inuyasha clenched his fist and covered the Jewel before pocketing it and following after Naruto.

'_I can always think about the Shikon Jewel later, Naruto needs me now.'_

**[*.*.*.*]**

Sesshōmaru growled as he clenched his fist tightly and smashed the contents in his fist into dust.

"What's wrong milord?" Jaken asked and Sesshōmaru turned to glare at Jaken.

"We were tricked by that silver haired human." Sesshōmaru stated as he opened his head and released the now crushed shuriken. He turned and started to walk away.

"W-Where are you, milord?" Jaken asked but Sesshōmaru remained quiet as he walked in a furious manner. His silence somewhat disturbed Jaken as his silence always meant the same thing; death.

**[*.*.*.*]**

"Augh, I feel like crap." Naruto said as he awoke and sat up. He looked around and noticed that he was in the room he occupied while his team stayed at Tazuna's house. He was currently alone and had gauze wrapped over his entire body.

"Am I dead? Did I die and come back to life as a mummy?" Naruto shouted as his panic started to rise. "There was so much I wanted to do before I died!" He cried as he hugged his knees.

"I wanted to eat ramen in bed while watching TV! I wanted to find the control to the TV! I wanted to invent a new flavor of ramen! I wanted to become taller! Is that too much to ask?" He continued until he heard the door slide open. He looked up and saw a bandaged up Hinata and Sasuke walk into the room. Sasuke walked with a limp and Hinata walked in with a cast on her left arm. Naruto's eye scanned both his teammate's injuries.

"Hinata-chan, teme, what happened to you two?" Naruto asked with some concern as Sasuke and Hinata sat in front of him. Sasuke smirked as he sat in the lotus position and Hinata sat on her knees.

"We got our asses kicked." Sasuke said and Naruto raised an eyebrow. Hinata giggled. "What about you?" Sasuke asked and Naruto looked down at himself.

"To tell you the truth, I don't know. The last thing I remember is a giant tree falling on top of me. I woke up looking like a mummy and I got scared that a stupid tree killed me." Naruto admitted sheepishly with a grin and Hinata giggled.

"Hn, dobe." Naruto saw the smirk on Sasuke's lips and he couldn't help but smile as well. He then turned his eyes to Hinata and her cast.

"Hinata-chan, what happened to your arm?" Hinata looked down at it and opened her mouth.

"It was…" Hinata was hesitant to answer; she knew Naruto despised Sesshōmaru, especially after he kidnapped Naruto. "It was Sesshōmaru." Hinata answered and Naruto's eyes widened.

"Sesshōmaru, what the hell was he doing here?" Naruto asked and Hinata shook her head.

"Wait, who the hell was that anyways?" Sasuke asked and Naruto looked at him.

"He's aniki's older brother. He is a powerful demon that controls the western lands. And he's a bastard." Naruto said and Sasuke closed his eyes.

"Sounds bothersome." Naruto nodded his head in agreement.

"He wanted the Shikon Jewel." Hinata said and Naruto and Sasuke looked at her.

"So the one you had was real?" Naruto asked and Hinata nodded. Sasuke noticed the mood darken and he coughed in his hand.

"As much fun as this talk is, I think we should change the subject." Sasuke suggested and Naruto and Hinata nodded.

"Are you ok, Hinata-chan?" Naruto asked as he gave Hinata a sideways glance. Hinata blushed a deeper shade or red and smiled.

"I-I'm fine Naruto-kun." She assured, her smile widening when he let out a sigh of relief.

"You had me worried dobe." Naruto looked up and saw Sasuke's amused smirk.

"What do you mean?"

"I guess you don't remember but during the big fight, you jumped in the middle of a crowd of bandits." Sasuke told him and Hinata and Naruto's eyes widened.

"What?" They both shouted and Sasuke found this to be more entertaining than he first thought.

"At first you weren't too bad but then about ten swords cut into you." Sasuke said and Hinata covered her mouth with her right hand. Naruto blinked as he looked at his person.

"I guess that would explain my mummy look." Naruto commented and Sasuke chuckled.

"I would've brought you back to life and killed you again if you died." Sasuke said and Nartuo blinked as he looked at him incredulously. "You still need to fulfill your dream and help me with mine." Naruto nodded in understanding and saw Sasuke extend his hand out. Naruto stared at it for a while before smirking and grabbing it with his hand.

"You should know by now that I never go back on my word." Naruto said before looking at Hinata.

"Hinata-chan," Hinata looked at him and he smiled. "You said your dream was to surpass your dad and help you clan right?" Hinata nodded and blushed. Sasuke rolled his eye as he and Naruto let go of each other.

'_That wasn't all she said, dobe.'_ Sasuke thought with a sigh.

"Well, I want to help you do that." Hinata blinked repeatedly as Naruto grabbed her right hand with his. "I'm going to help you surpass your dad and help your clan in any way I can." Naruto said and his words touched Hinata. They were both shocked when Sasuke placed his right hand over theirs.

"I guess I might as well help too. The dobe will need someone to explain all the clan rules and still maintain their sanity." Naruto glared at Sasuke and Hinata giggled. "Hinata, didn't you have another dream, too?" Sasuke asked with a mischievous smile, making Hinata pale.

"You did? Well what is it?" Naruto asked and Hinata blushed and looked away. Sasuke internally chuckled as he watched Hinata force the words out of her mouth.

"T-That I w-wanted to get m-married and have a g-g-good family." Hinata stuttered out and Naruto chuckled.

"I'm not sure how much help me or Sasuke will be but we'll still try." Naruto said and Sasuke sweat dropped.

'_Dobe…'_

'_Actually, only you could help me with that dream, Naruto-kun.'_

"Anyways, did we end up protecting Tazuna? Defeat Zabuza and Haku?" Naruto asked which was followed by a dark chuckle that came from across the room.

"No but I ended up succeeding with my mission." Naruto's eye widened when Zabuza appeared sitting on the window sill with his zanbatō in his hand.

"Zabuza." Naruto breathed out.

"But don't worry kid; you won't have to worry about completing anymore missions. The dead don't worry about trivial stuff like that." Zabuza said as he stood and slowly made his way towards Team 7.

Naruto stood and ran at Zabuza only to be stopped by Kakashi who used the body flicker technique to stop Naruto.

"Don't worry Naruto, Zabuza isn't a threat anymore." Kakashi turned to Zabuza and eye smiled. "As entertaining as that was, was it really necessary?" Kakashi asked and Zabuza scoffed.

"I think I deserve one freebie." Zabuza muttered and Kakashi chuckled sheepishly. Naruto looked at the two with confusion.

"What the hell is going on here?" Naruto shouted and Kakashi rubbed the back of his head.

"The thing is, they're not our enemy anymore. All you need to know is that they won't be a problem anymore." Naruto fell to his knees and cried in his hands.

"The world is so confusing!" He cried out and everyone let out a laugh.

***.*.*.***

"I'm glad you're ok now." Kagome said as she sat on the roof next to Inuyasha. Inuyasha hummed as he looked at her questioningly.

"What do you mean? I'm not the one who was sick." Inuyasha stated and Kagome nodded before she coughed.

"I know but I saw your injuries and just thought it would take a bit longer for them to heal." Kagome insisted and Inuyasha scoffed.

"It'll take a lot more to bring me down." Inuyasha said and Kagome bit on her left thumb.

"Did you get your injuries looked at?" Kagome asked and Inuyasha looked at her as if she grew a second head.

"What? No, of course not." He answered and Kagome grabbed his arm.

"Come on, I think we should take a look." She said but Inuyasha removed her hand.

"I'm fine!" Inuyasha shouted and Kagome pouted.

"Well I just want to make sure!" Kagome retorted but Inuyasha just growled.

"Well too bad!" Inuyasha jumped off the roof and while in the air, Kagome took in a deep breath.

"SIT BOY!" Inuyasha's body slammed against the unforgiving ground and he groaned in pain and from a concussion. Kagome slowly made her way down the roof and sat down next to Inuyasha.

"Now roll over." She said and Inuyasha barely managed to roll his boy to his back. He snapped out of his delirium and glared at her.

"Why you… what was that for?" He yelled and Kagome glared right back.

"Just to be sure. No one can come out of an injury like that without some kind of medical attention." She insisted.

"Go away!"

"NO! Not until I'm sure you're fine!" Inuyasha tried to stand but Kagome jumped on top of him and pinned his hands down.

"I said go away! You act like I'm the one the lost!" Inuyasha bellowed. Kagome ignored him as she started to strip him of his red jacket.

"Hey, cut it out!"

From inside Tazuna's house, Kakashi sighed as he heard Kagome and Inuyasha bickering.

"I guess we should stop them from killing each other." Naruto stood up and followed after Kakashi as he made his way outside. Everyone soon followed after the two.

"So what's the story with those two?" Zabuza asked Sasuke as they made their way outside.

"It looks like they like each other or something but they're both too shy, or in Inuyasha-senpai's case, stupid to actually admit it." Sasuke answered. The group following after Naruto and Kakashi were surprised when they saw the two with their eyes wide and mouth agape. Everyone stepped out and they couldn't help but mimic Naruto and Kakashi's expression.

"Hey, what are we looking at?" Haku asked as he saw everyone outside. Stepping out, he saw what everyone was looking at.

"Undress!" Kagome demanded as she basically straddled Inuyasha's waist and tried to remove his jacket.

"What if I don't want to?" Inuyasha countered.

"Take it off!" Kagome continued. Zabzua turned to a shocked Sasuke.

"Are you sure they haven't admitted it yet?" Sasuke shook his shoulders. Hinata blushed a deep shade of red and Kakashi began giggling like a school girl.

Soon, Inari, Tsunami and Tazuna stepped out only for Tsunami to cover her son's eyes, making him groan, and Tazuna to walk inside muttering about hormonal teenagers and half demons.

"Get a room aniki!" Naruto shouted and Kagome and Inuyasha blinked before blushing. Inuyasha stood up, forcing Kagome to get off him and him removing his upper wear.

"You see, I'm fine!" Kagome stared at his body in amazement.

"Wow, so you are fine." Kagome admitted and Inuyasha put on his clothes again.

"My body is different from any human's body." Inuyasha told her as he walked off into the woods. Kagome blinked as she stood and walked into Tazuna's house with a contemplative look. Everyone decided to leave her alone, seeing as she looked like she was too engrossed in her thoughts.

"Well, looks like everything is going back to normal." Kakashi stated as he also entered Tazuna's house. Everyone soon followed after him except for Naruto who looked in the direction where Inuyasha walked off.

"Ano, Naruto-kun?" Naruto looked back and saw Hinata waiting for him at the door.

"Yeah?"

"Is everything ok?" She asked and Naruto faked a smile.

"Yeah, everything's fine Hinata-chan." Hinata could see him forcing the smile but decided to question it later. "By the way, Hinata-chan?" Hinata smiled as she waited for Naruto to continue.

"Where's my awesome new sword?

**[*.*.*.*]**

It's been a week since Gato was dealt with and the bridge was only another day away from being completed. With the help of some of the shinobi, the bridge was quickly repaired and built at an amazing rate.

Tazuna decided to be generous and give his workers and bodyguards the next two days off and what a time to give them the two days off.

Currently, Team 7 was outside training on their own since they had nothing better to do. Hinata was practicing her Gentle Fist stances and occasionally hitting a tree with it, Sasuke was practicing activating and deactivating his new found kekkei genkai and adapting his body to it and Naruto was just randomly cutting down trees with his sword. His eagerness to learn how to wield a sword was obvious as he jumped around with it, slicing everything that would get in his way.

They all stopped when Tsunami came out and waited to get their attention. After five minutes, Team 7 stood in front of Tsunami and waited for her to speak.

"Would you three like to attend a festival?" She said and the three genin blinked.

"A festival?" Naruto asked and Tsunami nodded as the three stared at her with mixed emotions. Sasuke wasn't too much into the spirit of celebrating anything but also felt that he should take it easy for a while. Hinata wanted to go but she didn't really bring anything to wear. Naruto was a little less than enthusiastic, his memories of the last time he attended a festival replaying in his mind.

"It would be an honor if you three, along with both your sensei, Kagome-san, Zabuza-san and Haku-san, attended." Tsunami informed them and they each let out an inaudible sigh.

"Sure." Sasuke said.

"I-I guess it would be fun." Hinata said nervously while eyeing Naruto.

"Yeah sure, I guess it won't kill me to go… _hopefully_." Naruto commented, whispering the last part so no one could hear it. Tsunami's smile widened and she went into her home. Naruto wordlessly returned to cutting down trees except this time, Sasuke and Hinata noticed that it was without the previous enthusiasm.

**

* * *

Hope you liked it... I tried to make it as Action packed as i could without going crazy with it though I think i failed at that...**

**I promise in the net chapter, I'll explain what happened to shippo, how Kagome got Inari to get everyone to fight Gato back, Gato's fate and some other things that aren't really explained here...**

**I promise that this will make more sense by the next chapter... sorry for the rush but life's not gunna wait for me to finish one chapter...**

**Till next time!**

**Next Chapter: The Festival of Heroes and Lovers...**

**********Good luck with whatever and if you got a problem with me or one of my stories, please feel free to: Deal with it, Get over it or Choke on it...****  
**


	18. The Festival of Heroes and Lovers

**Hope you enjoy the chapter...**

**Sorry but they'll still be unanswered questions but I'll answer them sooner or later...**

**Got not time to comment too much so enjoy!**

**_"Let go. Why do you cling to pain? There is nothing you can do about the wrongs of yesterday. It is not yours to judge. Why hold on to the very thing which keeps you from hope and love?"_  
- Leo Buscaglia**

**Chapter 18: The Festival of Heroes and Lovers...**

**I don't own anything...**

* * *

Kakashi leaned against the door way as he waited for the rest of his charges to come down from their rooms. Inuyasha and Kagome left earlier for some unknown reason. Kakashi had a clue and he had a feeling that Naruto did too but decided against saying anything.

Zabuza and Haku waited next to Kakashi and each seemed to be gripped by their respective thoughts. In a matter of seconds, Zabuza snapped out of his thoughts with a growl and a quick move to the door.

"I'm getting impatient; Tazuna told me he'd treat us to drinks and with all this peace and love crap, I really need one… or ten…scratch that – twenty!" Before Zabuza could open the door, Kakashi lazily blocked is path.

"Calm down Zabuza, it shouldn't take that much longer. What kind of sensei would I be if I just left my students alone?" Kakashi asked.

"A slightly worse one compared to the sensei that comes an hour or three late to a team meeting." Everyone in the current room turned to the stairs to see Sasuke walking down the stairs nonchalantly, with his hands in his white shorts.

"Oh, Sasuke. Well, don't you look all proper and fancy." Kakashi commented sarcastically. Sasuke scoffed as he stood next to Haku.

"I'm sorry I forgot to pack my 'party-for-saving-a-whole-town' suit. I just figured for this one time, I wouldn't need it." Sasuke rebutted before smirking. "Maybe next time, you can hold it for me in your pack; right next to your 'I'm-a-pretty-princess' tea set." Kakashi let out a sarcastic laugh before glaring at Zabuza who was snickering.

"You know what kid, everyday you make me want to hurt you less." Zabuza stated and Sasuke sweat dropped.

"Uhm… thanks?" He said questioningly. "Besides, you have no room to talk. You're wearing your jonin vest and your usual clothes." Sasuke stated.

"So, where are Naruto and Hinata?" Haku interjected and Sasuke shrugged his shoulders.

"I have no idea about Hinata. Naruto however said he was going to use the bathroom and that it would be smart to clear the house." Everyone sweat dropped.

"So… that kid is your student?" Zabuza asked and Kakashi chuckled sheepishly.

"What other student? I only have Sasuke and Hinata. Naruto was just a kid I found sleeping outside this place." Kakashi stated.

"Good to know you're not ashamed of me, sensei." Naruto said as he walked down the stairs. His mood seemed a bit darker than usual but it went unnoticed by Haku and Zabuza. Kakashi's chuckle became louder.

"In all fairness, you give me little to work with." Naruto smirked as he sat at the bottom step and leaned back. He wore his shinobi attire along with his new sword attached to his back.

"Yeah well, I could say the same thing." Naruto retorted. Kakashi donned a false hurtful expression.

"That hurts Naruto." Everyone but Kakashi chuckled or laughed as they failed to notice Hinata walk down the stairs. She smiled at seeing everyone getting along however she did notice that Naruto's laugh did seem a little off.

"Where is Inuyasha-senpai?" Hinata asked, making everyone look. This caused her to shrink in herself, not very fond of being the center of attention.

"He left early. Now that we're all here, how about we head out now?" Kakashi suggested. The moment the words left his mouth, Zabuza harshly opened the door and forced Kakashi back. He walked out, with Haku on his heels.

"Let's not leave them waiting for us." Naruto said as he stood. He looked up at Hinata and smiled. "Let's go." Hinata nodded with a blush as she and her team followed after Zabuza and Haku, straight into town.

On the way there Naruto couldn't stop staring at Hinata. There was something different about her at the moment and he seemed to be the only one who noticed. Her steps were more cautious and it didn't seem possible that her eyes couldn't remain on one place for longer than a second.

That wasn't it, her scent also changed.

It was… enticing to say the least; at least, to Naruto it was. He couldn't get enough of her scent, it drove his senses wild. He noticed however, that she didn't do much to her appearance for the festival though she had never looked prettier than tonight; with the silver moon's light beaming down on her delicate form.

Naruto found himself stepping closer to Hinata and wondered why he did. He also saw that his tail was wagging in a constant pace. He stopped himself and sighed.

Hinata hadn't been so oblivious to Naruto's actions. She also noticed him moving closer to her and his tail sway behind him the minute he appeared next to her. She smiled as she saw his beautiful blue eyes staring at the moon and at her at different times. She hoped he was continuously looking at her because he liked what he saw.

Blushing, Hinata remembered telling herself that tonight would be the night she'd confess her feelings to the young hanyō. However, now in the presence of said hanyō, she couldn't help but think that tonight would not be the night.

"Ah, the festival!" Naruto shouted and Hinata looked up. She gasped at seeing so many bright lights and fancy decorations placed around the town.

"Wow, they sure do know where to get their party stuff." Kakashi commented with his hands in his pockets. "Hmm?" Kakashi and the others were handed a couple of old tomatoes and other fruits and vegetables by a couple of kids. They giggled and laughed as they saw their faces before pointing own the road.

Kakashi saw a cart or something coming up the road. After waiting for the thing, Kakashi and everyone smirked as they saw someone pulling a cart with a battered and bruised Gato tied to a post.

Looking down at the tomatoes, Naruto smirked and threw the first tomato, hitting Gato squarely in the face. He laughed as he threw another one and soon, Zabuza joined him.

Sasuke stared at his for a second longer before he decided to join the festivities. Kakashi and Hinata gave theirs to Naruto, Sasuke and Zabuza evenly.

After they had no more food left to throw, Zabuza threw a kunai that landed an inch away from Gato's nether regions. Zabuza laughed at Gato's expression. Naruto joined him as well with everyone following soon after.

"That was fun." Kakashi commented with an eye smile.

After the short entertainment, they group entered deeper into the town until they reached the center of it.

"Well, this is where I say to be careful and have fun. Zabuza here is going to treat me to some sake." Kakashi told his charges. Zabuza glared at Kakashi but didn't say anything.

Sasuke was the first to leave, with Haku following behind him. Kakashi and Zabuza left for the bar where Tazuna told Zabuza to wait for him.

Naruto and Hinata were left alone.

Hinata blushed at this fact and surprisingly enough, so did Naruto. Naruto rubbed the back of his head and smiled at Hinata who noticed his blush. She tilted her head at this.

"Naruto-kun, are you… b-blushing?" She asked and Naruto blinked.

"Am I?" He asked, not entirely sure and Hinata nodded. He chuckled nervously. "Guess I am." His chuckle grew more nervous and Hinata smiled sweetly.

'_What the hell is wrong with me? A blush? I'm blushing?'_ Naruto looked at his hands. _'Am I sick or something?'_

***.*.*.***

"So you noticed it too?" Haku asked Sasuke after sometime of quiet walking. Sasuke looked at Haku like he was crazy.

"What're you talking about?" He asked and Haku raised an eyebrow.

"You walked off, giving Naruto-san and Hinata-san some space." Sasuke still held the same look before Haku realized he had no clue what he was talking about.

"You didn't notice?" Sasuke shook his head before sighing and facing forward.

"I just wanted to get away from the dobe for a little bit." Sasuke said and Haku sighed disappointedly.

"Through sheer coincidence you decided to leave them alone." Sasuke nodded nonchalantly and Haku closed his eyes. Sasuke smirked when he saw Haku close his eyes.

'_Dobe.'_

***.*.*.***

Naruto smiled as he stared at all the unique and oddly entertaining decorations the town gathered. They had from hearts and babies in diapers with wings, bows and arrows to fishes, funny looking animals and creatures that could be featured in child books. Compared to how it had been earlier, this town was ten times happier and livelier.

There were booths with fun looking games and other amusing activities. Naruto also noticed a bunch of prizes hanging on the booths' wall. They ranged from small to big, cheap to expensive looking.

Among the sea of games, a prize caught Naruto's eye. He walked up to the booth and stared at the prize in detail. Hinata walked next to him and looked at the direction he was looking in. She thought he was looking at the large, white tiger.

"What do I need to do to get that one?" Naruto asked, pointing at the prize behind a giant white tiger. The man operating the booth looked up and smiled.

"That, my friend, is not an easy prize to be won." Turning to the side, the man pointed at three separate round tables, each hold three blocks stacked up to look like a mini-pyramid. "Knock down the blocks of at least two tables. However," The man continued, holding his hand up. "The three blocks must be knocked off of the table."

"Looks easy." Naruto commented and the man smirked.

"Things aren't always as they appear, young man." The man rebutted.

"How much to play?" Naruto asked and the man held his hands up.

"No, no, I couldn't forgive myself if I took the money of one of the town's heroes." The man said and handed Naruto three giant balls; one was blue and the other two were green. "There on the house." The man said and Naruto smiled.

"How'd you know?" Naruto asked and Hinata smiled.

"It hard to not know; especially when your description involves fox ears and a tail." The man answered and Naruto sweat dropped.

"Right." He took on a concentrated look as he stared at the blocks five feet away from him. Rearing his hand back, Naruto fired the first ball and it collided with the table, effectively breaking it. Naruto and Hinata became deadpanned as the man working the booth stared at the broken table with wide eyes.

"Heh, sorry." Naruto apologized and the man shook his head.

"It's alright but next time you decided to play a game, make sure to control yourself. We might've gotten enough money to throw a festival but we aren't made out of money, you know." Nartuo blinked.

"Wait, where did this place get the money from?" Naruto asked and the man's smirk returned.

"Gato was gracious enough to give us our money back and even _donate_ most of his." The man answered and Naruto smirked.

"We'll, if that's the case then I'm all for it. You know, technically, I did knock the blocks off the table." Naruto said with a mischievous smile. The man sighed and nodded his head.

"You sure did." He commented. Hinata smiled.

"So what p-prize are you getting, Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked and Naruto pointed to the prize behind the white tiger. The man nodded and got the prize, giving it to Naruto.

"It was nice meeting you." The man said to Naruto. "You too." He said to Hinata and she bowed.

"You too." Naruto said before walking away with Hinata. Hinata stared at the prize oddly. It was a simple white bunny with a happy yet timid smile. Hinata saw nothing special with it; it was cute but nothing else.

"Naruto-kun," Naruto looked at her. "why d-did you get that? Y-You probably could've gotten the w-white tiger." Hinata said and Naruto chuckled.

"Probably but I wanted this one." Naruto said and Hinata looked at him oddly.

"Why?" She asked, her curiosity growing with every second.

"I don't know, there was just something about this little guy that made me want to get it." Naruto looked at the bunny before looking at Hinata. After looking at her for a second longer, he smiled.

"In fact, it kinda reminds me of you." He said and Hinata 'eep'ed silently.

"I-It does?" She asked, earning a nod from Naruto. "It doesn't seem t-t-that special to m-me." She added.

"I guess at first glance it doesn't but when I kept looking at it, it just caught my eye." Naruto said before looking at the bunny and then moving it in front of Hinata. He dropped it in her hands and smiled.

"I want you to have it." Hinata blushed and looked at Naruto. The material used to make the bunny felt soft under Hinata's touch.

"You do?" Naruto nodded. "H-How come?" He shrugged.

"I just do, a present from me to you." He said and Hinata's blush darkened. She looked at the bunny and right then, the bunny suddenly became important and special.

"Thank you, Naruto-kun." Hinata said with a content smile. When Naruto saw her smile, his heart sped up a bit. He looked away and frowned.

'_What's wrong with me? And why does she smell so good?'_ Naruto thought as he detected Hinata's alluring aroma. _'I need to find aniki!'_ Naruto thought in panic though his outer appearance was calm. His eyes spotted Inuyasha's unmistakable red robe of the fire rat. He saw that he and Kagome were standing within the crowd in front of a stage.

It was set up outside so anyone could watch the play. A sign read 'Watch the play **Ice and Snow**'. Naruto never heard of the play before and guessed it was just some play being enacted by the townspeople.

"Hey, Hinata-chan, look, it's aniki and Kagome-nee-chan. Let's go say hi!" Naruto said hurriedly as he dragged Hinata through the crowd.

**[*.*.*.*]**

Inuyasha stood next to Kagome as they waited for the play to begin.

"This is stupid, why did you drag me into this?" Inuyasha asked and Kagome waited with unadulterated excitement.

"Because I love this story and you're not leaving me alone like you did last time." She answered and he raised an eyebrow.

"Last time?" He asked.

"Last time you left me alone, I was KIDNAPPED!" She shouted into Inuyasha's ear.

"SHUT YOUR TRAP!" Inuyasha retorted. "It's not my fault you're so weak." Inuyasha added.

"Weak, am I?" Kagome asked and Inuyasha gulped when he saw the fire in her eyes.

"Aniki! Kagome-nee-chan!" They were interrupted when they saw Naruto and Hinata appear behind them. Inuyasha sighed silently as he thanked whichever greater being was watching over him.

"Naruto! You having fun?" Kagome commented and Naruto nodded his head.

"Yup, so what're you guys doing?" Naruto asked.

"I was thinking the same thing." Inuyasha mumbled, luckily, Kagome hadn't heard him.

"We're waiting for the start of _Ice and Snow_." Kagome answered with delight. Hinata smiled in delight as well but Naruto tilted his head to the left.

"_Ice and Snow_? Sounds boring." Naruto said and was glared at by Kagome.

"Do you have any idea what it's about?" Kagome asked and Naruto shook his head.

"_Ice and Snow _is about a girl named Freedert who used to be a common girl whose best friends were a boy named Kael and a Duke's son, Elliot. Freedert and Elliot soon began to have deep feelings for each other, but because of their social statuses, they could not be together." Hinata started, smiling at the memory of being told this story. Though he refused to show it, the story began to interest Naruto.

"One day, Elliot had to leave to go to war and Freedert gave him a sword to keep him safe. Before he left, Elliot asked Kael to take care of Freedert and Kael assured Elliot that he will. However, Kael was madly in love with Freedert and did not want her and Elliot to be together, so he made a forbidden wish to the Second Hand of Time, asking it to end Elliot's time in this world.

"His wish was granted and Elliot was struck down with an arrow in battle. When Freedert learned what had happened, she prayed to the Second Hand of Time to give her time to Elliot." Kagome continued, now intriguing Inuyasha a little. In fact, he had a feeling that he'd heard this before.

"When Elliot awoke he found himself lying in the red roses the Freedert loved instead of his own blood. Elliot returned to the village Freedert's lifeless body lying in front of the statue of the Second hand of Time. Because of his strong love for Freedert, he prayed to the Second hand of Time to give his time back to Freedert." A small tear filled both eyes of Kagome and Hinata as they recited the following lines.

"Instead of following the wish, the Second Hand of Time revived Freedert and let Elliot keep his time." They both said with hearts in their eyes.

"And they lived happily ever after, right?" Naruto asked, highly disappointed in the story's outcome. Oblivious to this, Kagome and Hinata nodded. Inuyasha had a frown on his face and turned away.

"It's so kawaii(cute)!" Kagome squealed and Hinata nodded in agreement. Naruto rolled his eyes and Inuyasha's mood took a turn for the worst, though no one noticed.

"Shh, it's beginning!" Kagome cheered as she turned to face the stage.

"This should be good." Naruto said to himself. He was thinking about walking away but he wasn't expecting to see a fight scene so early in the play. Swords clashed on stage as two men fought as if their lives depended on it. Naruto was hooked the second the swords clashed. Inuyasha watched the play from the corner of his eye, wanting to see how the townspeople would reenact the story.

By the end of the story, Hinata and Kagome were hugging each other and crying happy tears. Naruto was also crying.

When the red curtains closed, people were clapping and had tears in their eyes.

"That was so kawaii!" Kagome said once more with Naruto and Hinata nodding their heads vigorously.

"Good for you, Freedert, good for you!" Naruto cheered. Inuyasha growled and punched the back of Naruto's head. "OW! What was that for?" Naruto shouted in pain before kicking Inuyasha in the gut. Inuyasha took a step back but aside from that, it seemed as if he were only pushed.

"Stop being a girl and man up!" Inuyasha said and Naruto glared at Inuyasha.

"What's your problem?" Naruto asked.

"Hey guys," Kagome tried to stop the fight but Inuyasha and Naruto were too angry at each other to notice.

"You're going to cry because of some stupid play that isn't even real?"Inuyasha asked in a quieter tone.

"I wasn't crying!" Naruto retorted, wiping his tears from his eyes. "I just had something in my eyes."

"They're called tears, stupid!"

"Shut up, idiot!"

"Stupid!"

"Idiot!" Both shouted at the top of their lungs, gathering the people's attention.

"SHUT UP!" Kagome yelled, causing both hanyōs to look at her. "Inuyasha, calm down. You too, Naruto." Inuyasha scoffed and walked off.

"Where are you going?" Naruto asked and Hinata touched Naruto's shoulder. Naruto looked back at her before glaring at Inuyasha.

"Away from here." He answered and jumped to the roofs. Kagome sighed a couple of minutes after he left.

"I guess I should follow him. See you guys back at Tsunami-san's house." Kagome said and left. The crowd cleared as the players were given an hour break before the next performance of _Ice and Snow_.

"Are you ok, Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked after giving Naruto sometime to calm down. By now, the crowd had dispersed and only Hinata and Naruto were standing near the stage.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Naruto answered, a little too quickly for Hinata's taste. However, she knew she was in no place to pry so she let him be for a while.

After some time passed, Naruto turned to her and smiled.

"You wanna grab something to eat?" Naruto asked, and Hinata smiled with a nod and a blush. She knew his fight with Inuyasha was still bothering him, but she knew she shouldn't say anything. At least, not at the moment.

**[*.*.*.*]**

Kakashi downed another bowl of sake before laughing at Zabuza.

"Told you I could drink it without removing my mask, now pay up!" Kakashi said with a bit of a slur. He was still understandable to those who remained sober but it was obvious he dove right into the sake. Zabuza reached into his pocket and took out a thousand ryo.

"Stupid scarecrow." Zabuza said as he paid Kakashi. "At least I'm not buying the sake." Zabuza commented. After pocketing the money, Kakashi nodded his head at Zabuza.

"Thank you very much!" Kakashi mused. Zabuza scoffed before taking another swig of the sake.

"Say Scarecrow, how well do you know the Uchiha traitor?" Zabuza asked and Kakashi suddenly became serious.

"Why do you ask?" Kakashi asked with a sense of calmness, hiding his surprise at the sudden question.

"Curiosity." Zabuza answered and Kakashi looked at Zabuza for a while.

"Not very, I only know that he was a child prodigy. And besides what you probably already know, he had a sweet tooth." Kakashi stated. Zabuza hummed to himself before turning his head towards Kakashi.

"What do you know about men wearing black cloaks with red clouds embroidered on them?" He asked, this time causing Kakashi to raise an eyebrow.

"Where is this all going Zabuza? Clearly you're not just asking me this for the sake of a conversation." Kakashi stated and Zabuza nodded.

"It seems Kakashi that sometime in the future; we'll both have a common enemy." Zabuza stated with such seriousness that it reminded Kakashi of their first confrontation.

"Tell me more." Kakashi said as he served Zabuza more sake before serving himself.

"It's nothing more than just a guess but…" Zabuza stopped to choose his words carefully. "I saw that Uchiha brat and my old teammate together, wearing the red clouded black cloaks just outside the boundaries of the Land of Fire." Zabuza told Kakashi, after which taking another sip. Kakashi's visible eye widened for a millisecond before relaxing again.

"Interesting." Kakashi stated and Zabuza nodded. "What were they doing?"

"They were capturing the three tailed giant turtle; the Sanbi." This time, when Kakashi's eye widened, they stayed that way.

"What?" Zabuza nodded his head.

"Kisame Hoshigaki, my ex-comrade; he was the one who sealed the beast into a container with the help of the Uchiha brat." Zabuza added. Kakashi sighed after taking another gulp of the sake.

"This is going to cause some problems." Zabuza nodded and greedily drank the rest of the sake in the bottle. When he put the empty bottle down, he noticed that Kakashi was still looking at him.

"What?"

"So what're you going to do now?" Kakashi asked and Zabuza looked down at his hands which lay on the table.

"…I'm not sure." Zabuza answered truthfully.

"You could come back to Konoha." Zabuza looked at Kakashi as if he grew a second head. "Oh come on, don't look at me like that. There isn't a single reason why you shouldn't come. This way you can have a steady source of income and a safe place for Haku." Zabuza hummed to himself as he thought it over.

"I'll think about it more later." Kakashi nodded his head and the two continued to drink sake.

**[*.*.*.*]**

Naruto happily gobbled up some cinnamon buns as Hinata tried her best not to pig out. It was getting harder by the minute as she watched Naruto eat through the delectable delights. She counted the number of cinnamon buns he had eaten, and so far he was beating her by ten. Eating her fifth cinnamon bun, Hinata saw Naruto become hesitant to grab another one before dropping his hands on his stomach and patting it.

"Phew, that was good." He commented and Hinata smiled, glad that _the precious_ would not be entirely eaten by Naruto. Hinata was happy that Naruto was considerate enough to leave some for her or just through coincidence he had his fill with fifteen cinnamon buns. She decided to stay optimistic and go with the former.

Hinata's eyes stared selfishly at the remaining five cinnamon buns.

"You full, Hinata-chan?" Hinata blinked at the mention of her name and when she looked up, saw that it was Naruto that spoke.

"Ano, not yet." She answered and Naruto smiled. Finishing her fifth and sixth cinnamon bun, Hinata noticed that Naruto showed signs of boredom. Tail moving in every direction at a very fast pace, his eyes basically doing the same and the most obvious tell-tale sign, he refused to stay in the same position for longer than two seconds.

"Do you want to go somewhere else, Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked shyly and Naruto took a second to think prior to nodding his head. Grabbing the remaining three cinnamon buns, and putting one in her mouth, Hinata stood and followed after Naruto as he searched for something to do.

During his search, he saw Hinata happily munching on her favorite snack and couldn't help but blush and smile as he saw her happy-go-lucky expression. He had never seen Hinata so happy; nothing ever seemed to cheer her up more than a couple of cinnamon buns.

The smile that now rested on Hinata's lips made Naruto's heart beat at a faster rate. He furrowed his brow as he wondered what exactly was wrong with him. He then remembered why he went to look for Inuyasha in the first place.

"Naruto-kun?" Naruto was snapped out of his thoughts and become aware that Hinata was staring at him. "Are you ok?" He smiled and put his left hand behind his head.

"Yeah, I'm super fine. In fact, I think I'm so ok and fine that we should have a race. Read set go!" Naruto disappeared before her eyes and Hinata blinked repeatedly. Hinata looked crescent fallen, wondering if the race was just merely Naruto getting away from her. Was she really that boring?

"Hinata!" Hinata looked up and saw Kagome running towards. When she stood in front of Hinata, Kagome looked around. "Where's Naruto?"

"I don't know, he just left. I just asked him if he was fine and he said he was and then wanted to race me." Hinata said with a frown.

"What? That doesn't sound like Naruto." Kagome commented. "Wait, why did you ask him if he was fine?" Kagome asked.

"He was blushing, at least I think he was, and his tail and ears twitched anxiously" Kagome smiled a knowing smile.

'_So it finally hit him, eh?'_ She thought.

"You're right, that does sound strange." Kagome stated and Hinata nodded.

"I don't think it was the cinnamon buns we ate because they haven't affected me." Kagome pretended to be oblivious and shrugged her shoulders.

"Maybe it's a hanyō thing." Kagome said, adding her two cents.

"Maybe but, it still worries me." Kagome beamed.

"How about I help you look for him? I'm still looking for Inuyasha and who knows, maybe they're both together." Hinata looked at Kagome and nodded.

"Ok, thank you, Kagome-san." Kagome smiled.

"Just Kagome." Hinata nodded and they started their search for the two hanyō. "So Hinata, how's your night going so far?" Kagome asked and Hinata smiled.

"It was… nice. At least it was before this happened." She answered.

"You were spending the whole night with Naruto-kun, I would guess you would enjoy tonight." Hinata blushed as she glanced at Kagome from the corner of her eye.

"W-What makes you s-say that?" Hinata asked and Kagome glanced at Hinata as well.

"It's pretty obvious why; in fact, everyone knows." Kagome said and Hinata blinked before frowning.

"Everyone but the person that matters…" Hinata stated solemnly. She glanced up when she felt Kagome's hand place itself on her shoulder.

"It's ok, Hinata-chan, I know how you feel." Kagome said, shifting her eyes to the ink-dark sky. "Inuyasha is too stupid to figure out why I'm always bothering him."

"You like Inuyasha-senpai?" Hinata asked and Kagome winked at her and placed her free index finger on her lips.

"It's a secret between us girls, ok?" Kagome asked and Hinata smiled and nodded.

"But why don't you tell him? You're not like me, you aren't afraid to say what's on your mind." Hinata asked and Kagome shook her head.

"Every girl is afraid to tell the guy she likes that she likes him. I swear you make me seem like superwoman or something. That I can do anything and not be afraid of anything." Kagome winked at Hinata again with a smile. "It's not that simple, Hinata-chan. I might look like I'm not afraid but the truth is I only pretend I'm not." Hinata tilted her head to the left.

"Pretend?"

"That's right. I pretend that what I'm about to doesn't scare me and it makes it that much easier to do." Kagome's smile changed to a small frown. "But with this situation, it's not so easy. I don't know why I can't do it but I know I just can't." Hinata stared up at Kagome and watched her facial movements. Silence overcame them until Kagome smiled and turned her head in Hinata's direction.

"I just remembered something."

"What?"

"You have the Byakugan." Hinata blinked as she suddenly remembered she had it too. "That would probably make this search a lot easier." Hinata nodded her head before activating the Byakugan.

"**Byakugan!**" Hinata's vision sharpened and widened over 350 feet away.

"I-I think I see them. They're just outside the town." Kagome smiled.

"Well, let's go then."

**[*.*.*.*]**

Naruto sighed as he appeared at the edge of the town, away from the festival.

He leaned back as he sat on a tree branch high above the ground. Placing a hand over his heart, Naruto looked up at the moon.

"What's wrong with me?" Naruto whispered to himself.

"Do you want just one thing or a whole list?" Naruto gasped as he looked up to see Inuyasha staring down at him.

'_How did I miss him?'_ Naruto thought and Inuyasha smirked, seeming to know what Naruto was thinking.

"You seemed busy running away from something to notice me, apparently." Inuyasha observed. "So what's wrong with you?" Inuyasha asked as he joined his surrogate younger brother at staring at the moon. The silver-coin moon shined its pearly moonlight down on the two hanyō brothers and their surroundings, showing them the beauty and peacefulness of the night.

"I don't know. I think I'm sick or something, especially when I'm around Hinata-chan." Inuyasha scoffed.

"That's bull." Inuyasha stated and Naruto growled.

"It's true! Whenever I'm near Hinata-chan now, I can't help but smell a strong but sweet scent on her I've never smelled on her before; on anyone else for that matter!" Naruto shouted. "And my heart races whenever she smiles or when she's happy. Oh and I felt my face get hot and no doubt I've blushed once or twice today alone! I never blush! You know that!" Naruto continued and Inuyasha smirked.

'_I guess Sasuke's right; he is a dobe.'_

"What makes you think you're sick?" Inuyasha asked, hoping to get some more enjoyment out of this.

"Because this has never happened to me before! Weren't you paying attention, aniki?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah but it doesn't automatically mean you're sick."

"Then what else can it mean?" Naruto asked, confused and slightly hysterical.

'_I can have some fun with this.' _Inuyasha thought. "Well it kinda hard for you to get sick since you have an incredible healing rate and I doubt a virus or sickness can really affect you so much." Inuyasha declared.

"Oh yeah." Naruto said, momentarily forgetting that he was a hanyō. Jumping down from his branch down to Naruto's, Inuyasha stared into Naruto's eyes seriously.

"It can only mean one thing." Naruto gulped.

"W-What?"

"You're… dying!"

"AH!" Naruto shouted in fear. "I'm too young to die!" Naruto continued but stopped short when he heard Inuyasha laugh.

"Damn! I swear I didn't think you'd believe me!" Inuyasha bellowed amidst his laughter. Naruto glared at him before kicking him off the branch. Inuyasha grabbed on to the branch before he fell and righted himself.

"Alright, alright." Inuyasha calmed himself down before getting serious again. "Let me ask you something first, does Hinata blush too?"

"Yeah, all the time." Naruto answered and Inuyasha nodded his head sagely.

"Do you know why you suddenly find her scent alluring? Why your heart races, you blush and why your palms get sweaty?" Naruto blinked.

"I never told you they do."

"Do they?" Inuyasha asked and Naruto thought back to when he was around Hinata. He blushed but didn't say anything. "I thought so. So, do you know why?"

"NO! That's why I'm waiting for you to tell me." Naruto said loudly.

"I probably shouldn't tell you but I will anyways because by the time you figure it out by yourself, it'll probably be too late… at least for you it will be." Naruto waited with anticipation as Inuyasha took in a sharp breath.

"Alright, the reason why you're so… 'sick' is because you-"

"SIT BOY!" The rosary necklace around Naruto's and Inuyasha's neck glowed as they forced Naruto and Inuyasha to face plant into the ground. "Oops, I forgot Naruto-kun was with you. Sorry Naruto-kun."

"The hell was that for?" Inuyasha barked as he recovered. Hinata helped Naruto stand and dusted him off.

"That was for ditching me earlier!"

"Well I wouldn't have ditched you if you weren't getting on my nerves!"

"Maybe we should leave." Hinata suggested and Naruto looked at Inuyasha and Kagome argue.

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea." Naruto stood on his own feet and smiled.

"Thanks Hinata-chan." Hianta blushed and smiled. "C-Come on, it's getting late and I'm starting to get sleepy." Naruto said with a blush, turning his head away from Hinata. Hinata found this strange but refrained from stating it.

"O-ok." They became their trek home, leaving behind an angry Inuyasha and an irritated Kagome.

"You know what; I'm tired of arguing with you." Kagome said and Inuyasha was taken aback by this; he wasn't expecting this. "We're always fighting and I'm just sick of it."

"I never start the argument, you do." Inuyasha said and Kagome glared at him.

"See? You're doing it again!" Kagome shouted and looked down with a sad smile. "It's funny; I never thought I'd end up falling for a hanyō." Kagome said to herself quietly. Inuyasha furrowed his brow, he didn't quiet hear Kagome.

"What?" She looked up again but this time, Inuyasha saw a tear trying to escape its imprisonment.

"Nothing, just forget it. You'll never understand." Kagome walked away but Inuyasha stopped her.

"You don't think I'm capable of understating things?" Inuyasha asked, still irritated.

"It's not that, just this."

"Well you're wrong." Inuyasha insisted. "I'm a lot smarter than you give me credit for."

"What's wrong with you?" Kagome asked, surprising Inuyasha again.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"You've been nothing but angry and aggravated ever since we saw the _Ice and Snow_ play." Inuyasha looked away. "What? Was the story too sappy? Did it make you sick?" Kagome asked and Inuyasha growled.

"It wasn't accurate." Inuyasha said and Kagome looked at him oddly.

"What do you mean?" Inuyasha looked at her and the emotion behind his amber orbs took Kagome's breath away.

"Maybe you were told the story when you were a kid but I know better. I was there, I lived it." Inuyasha told her. "You can even say I'm Elliot." Kagome gasped.

"You… You're crazy." Kagome stated and Inuyasha shook his head.

"I'm not. That's the reason why I was mad the entire time; they exaggerated the story, making it worse in my opinion." Inuyasha told Kagome. His mood became solemn as he waited for Kagome to calm down enough to actually listen to him. "There are no happy endings, no 'happily ever after' in real life. Not in my life."

Kagome watched Inuyasha's movements and expression carefully but she couldn't see any deception in his words or body language.

"Can… Can you tell me what happened?" She asked and Inuyasha looked around.

"Not here; I feel like we're being watched." Kagome nodded, having that same feeling. "Let's go back to Tazuna's house; besides Naruto and Hinata, no one's there." Kagome nodded again and the entire way back, neither spoke a words.

A demon bee watched them go but instead of following them, it disappeared into the night, heading for its master.

When Inuyasha entered the room he was currently residing in, he sat down in the lotus position. Kagome sat in front of him and the only light in the room as that from the moon. It wasn't too bright that every detail in the room was visible but it was just enough for Kagome to see Inuyasha, a chair, a bed and the window.

"Ok, so what really happened?" Kagome asked and Inuyasha took in a deep breath.

"Obviously, the names aren't the same." He started. "Elliot is actually me, Freedert was actually my old lover named Kikyo, and you actually resemble her. Kael was some mortal named Hideo and the Second Hand of Time is actually the Shikon Jewel" Kagome remained silent as she took in Inuyasha's words. "There wasn't a war, at least not a typical one." Inuyasha paused to look at Kagome who was patiently waiting for the rest of the story.

"Kikyo was a priestess but not just any priestess, a priestess ordered to protect and purify the legendary Shikon Jewel." Kagome nodded her head.

"I have heard of the priestess Kikyo and her responsibility." Kagome smiled sadly. "So you fell for a priestess, eh?" Inuyasha nodded.

"Anyway, I met her one day when I tried to steal the Shikon jewel. I managed to run out of the village and into the forest before she caught up to me. This happened two hundred years ago…"

_Inuyasha rapidly made his way through the forest with the Shikon Jewel in his hands._

"_Finally, the Shikon Jewel is mine!" Inuyasha declared. Just as he was about to jump onto the tree branches, an arrow shot through the air and stuck his sleeve into a tree. He cursed as the suddenness of the arrow made him release the Shikon Jewel. "What's the big idea?" He shouted in anger._

_A beautiful woman with dark indigo hair appeared from the forest and gracefully filled the gap between her and the Shikon Jewel. She picked it up and purified it before pocketing the jewel. She was about to walk off until Inuyasha spoke._

"_You're just going to leave me here?" He barked and the woman turned around to look at him._

"_Try not to steal the jewel again." Was all the woman said before walking off._

"Then what happened?" Kagome asked and Inuyasha smiled.

"What do you think? I went back to steal the jewel." He answered. "This time, though, she was expecting me."

_Inuyasha burst through the roof of a shack only to see Kikyo sitting in a chair with the Shikon Jewel in her hands._

"_I see you came back for the jewel. I thought I told you not to steal the jewel again." Inuyasha snorted with a challenging smile._

"_Like I'd ever listen to a priestess like you." Inuyasha commented when he took a step closer, a barrier suddenly appeared and blasted him very far away._

"Really?" Kagome asked skeptically and Inuyasha looked down.

"Shut up, I didn't know she set up a barrier." Inuyasha said, defending himself. "I kept trying to steal the jewel but she always stopped me. She always seemed to know what I'd do before I did it. One day, though, she was just sitting in a meadow, relaxing I think."

_Inuyasha watched Kikyo from his place up a tree. She had done nothing but sit in the middle of the meadow since she arrived and Inuyasha was starting to get bored._

"_It's more enjoyable if you'd watch me from a closer stand point." Kikyo's voice rang through the meadow, shocking Inuyasha. Instead of staying up the tree and ignoring her, Inuyasha jumped off the tree and walked up to Kikyo. "Sit down, I'm not going to hurt you, I promise." She said and Inuyasha hesitantly sat next to her. They remained silent as the wind blew around them. Finally, she said;_

"_Why do you want the Shikon jewel?"_

"_Why do you care?" Inuyasha asked and Kikyo smiled._

"_I'm its caretaker." She answered and Inuyasha sighed._

"_You don't care why I want it." He said and Kikyo faced him._

"_I wouldn't have asked if I didn't care." She retorted. After thinking it over, Inuyasha sighed once more._

"_I want to use it to become a full demon." Kikyo looked at him before smiling and giggling. "What's so funny?" Inuyasha asked harshly and Kikyo waved her hand in front of her as she used the other to place it over her mouth._

"_Forgive me, I did not mean to laugh at you." She said. "I just thought of the many other half demons that've come to me with the same reason." Inuyasha raised an eyebrow._

"_Uh huh." _

"_Why do you want to be a full demon anyway?" Kikyo asked and Inuyasha blinked._

"_Why?" She nodded. "To be stronger." He answered quickly and Kikyo shook his head. She stood up and looked down at Inuyasha._

"_Power isn't everything."_

"After she said that, she walked away." Inuyasha said and Kagome looked at him with sad eyes. "We kept meeting together, spending time with each other and eventually falling in love."

"I see."

"She told me that the Shikon Jewel would be able to turn me human and at the time, I thought that was a good idea. That is until, Hideo came into the picture." Inuyasha continued.

"He had also fallen for Kikyo but knew if he wanted her all for himself, he'd have to kill me." Inuyasha looked at the floor with blank amber eyes. "He wasn't strong enough, though, so he told Kikyo that I died when really, I wasn't. She grew depressed and asked to be burned with the jewel so demons and evil men alike could never attain the jewel again. Hideo didn't know the news would affect her so much so he fled off somewhere. When I went looking for Kikyo, I was told what she did and…" Kagome waited for Inuyasha to continue.

"And what?" She asked after losing some of her patience.

"…I left. I had no other reason to stay so I left and here I am." Inuyasha ended and Kagome had a few tears in her eyes.

"That's so sad." Kagome said and Inuyasha shrugged his shoulders.

"I guess but there's nothing I can do about it now." He said.

"I'm sorry." Kagome said and Inuyasha looked at her.

"For what? You didn't do anything."

"I know but, I was acting like a jerk earlier and… and…" Kagome couldn't speak anymore without bursting into tears. She felt Inuyasha wrap her in a hug and she couldn't help crying into his shoulder.

"It's ok." He said with assurance, rubbing her back. "That happened a long time ago, I'm over it now." He said and continued to comfort Kagome. Kagoem looked up at him with teary eyes and Inuyasha couldn't look away. She slowly brought her head higher and kissed him. She realized what she'd just done and blushed, looking away.

"I-I'm sorry, I shouldn't-" She was stopped when Inuyasha kissed her. Her mind shut off as he picked her up and placed her on the bed. Her broke the kiss but was now over her, his amber eyes connecting to her brown ones.

"Don't talk." He said as he kissed her again. Kagome enjoyed the kiss; the electricity that his lips sent through hers sent chills down her spine. However, while it did feel right, it also felt wrong.

"No." Kagome pushed Inuyasha back and kept him back with her arms. "What are you doing?" She asked.

"I… I don't know." He replied and Kagome pushed him further back, giving her enough room to sit up.

"Are you doing this just because I look like your old lover?" She asked, slightly agitated. When he didn't answer, that was enough of an answer for her. "That's it, isn't it? You're just doing this because you miss Kikyo." Inuyasha refused to look at her.

"That's not it." He finally said.

"Don't lie to me!" She yelled and Inuyasha at last looked at her again.

"I'm not!" He shouted back. "Maybe… I don't know. You do remind me of Kikyo but you're nothing like her." He said. "You're your own person."

"So what are you saying?" Kagome asked. Inuyasha took in a deep breath through his nose and let it out .

"I like you, ok." Inuyasha said, shocking Kagome. "Is that what you want to hear? I like you, I really do but it's hard to let go of the past; especially when you look like her so much." Inuyasha stated. Kagome remained silent, still too shocked to speak.

"I'm going to go." Inuyasha stood and left the room, leaving Kagome alone with her thoughts running wild.

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed it...**

**More fluff/plot development next chapter...**

**Till then...**

******Good luck with whatever and if you got a problem with me or one of my stories, please feel free to: Deal with it, Get over it or Choke on it!**  



	19. Keeping Hope Alive

**Welcome one and all to a new chapter of Trials of the Hanyō Brothers...**

**Sorry its taken me so long to update but life's a drag and I couldn't ignore it...**

**Hopefully, this extra long chapter will more than make up for it... I doubt it but eh...**

**Read it and let me know what you think... I worked extra hard on this one...**

**Enjoy...**

**"When the world says, 'Give up', Hope whispers, 'Try it one more time'."  
_-Unknown_**

**Chapter 19: Keeping Hope Alive..**

**I don't own anything...**

* * *

"We're finally heading home!" Naruto cheered as he raised his arms up with a smile and wagging tail. He stood at the far end of the newly built bridge with the rest of his team plus Zabuza, Haku and Kagome. Inuyasha stood at the far end of the group, trying to keep his distance from Kagome without arousing suspicion.

"Yeah, it's pretty boring here, isn't it?" Tazuna said and Naruto brought down his arms and frowned.

"Sorry old man; I didn't mean it like that." Naruto apologized but smirked when Tazuna started to laugh.

"Calm down, son, I was only messing with you." Naruto chuckled too as everyone smiled.

"Come back someday?" Inari asked and Naruto's smile widened.

"Someday, that's a promise!" He grabbed Inari's hand and shook it. "See ya later!" Naruto said as his group began to depart. Inari, Tazuna, Tsunami and others began to yell out goodbyes and waved at the departing group of heroes.

"Come back again for next year's Festival of Heroes and Lovers!" Tsunami yelled, causing Inuyasha and Naruto to flinch. Only Kakashi caught this but he was too lazy to ask about it. He would bet his entire secret collection of Icha Icha merchandise that it'd give him a headache anyway. The Konoha shinobi and Zabuza and Haku began their trek home but before they got off the bridge, Sasuke stopped. Naruto looked back and raised an eyebrow.

"What's wrong?" He asked and Sasuke stared into the water below.

"Nothing, I'm fine… but…"

"But what?"

"…I feel like something's calling me." Sasuke said and Naruto shook his head.

"I think you're crazy because I don't hear anyone saying 'Teme! Teme!'." Naruto knew this was serious when Sasuke didn't reply. He didn't even make his signature grunt. Naruto sighed as he walked over to Sasuke. "If you're serious, why don't you call for it?" Naruto asked but Sasuke shook his head.

"It doesn't work that way. I feel like something's calling me, pulling me towards the water." Sasuke elaborated and Naruto looked at the spot Sasuke was looking at.

"Over there?" Naruto asked, pointing to a random area. Sasuke grabbed his wrist and moved it more to the left.

"Over there." Sasuke corrected and Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"Do you see something?"

"Kind of. It might be me but I see something shining under the water." Naruto scrunched his eyes before they widened when he saw something flash for a second.

"I… I think I see it." Sasuke smirked.

"Still think I'm crazy?"

"…let's not start this, teme." Naruto said and Sasuke glared at him. Naruto looked back and smirked.

"Dobe." Sasuke shook his head and Naruto chuckled.

"So, what are you waiting for?" Sasuke raise an eyebrow. "Why don't you jump in and get it?" Sasuke stared at Naruto for a while longer before nodding his head and looking at the shiny object under the water. He climbed the fence bordering the bridge and dived into the water.

"What's Sasuke doing?" Kakashi asked, making Naruto jump. He turned his head and stared deadpanned at Kakashi.

"You should wear a bell." Naruto said and Kakashi eye smiled.

"But that would defeat the purpose of being a ninja."

"I'm sure you'll survive." Naruto said as his eyes moved over to Sasuke who was swimming toward the object. After finally hovering over it, Sasuke dived into the water and swam deep under the surface to grab the item.

Moments after he dived in, Sasuke's head popped out of the water and swam back to the bridge. He climbed up the bridge and shook off the water from his hair. In his right hand was Raijekin, Hiten's weapon. Kakashi's eyes widened at this and he moved towards Sasuke.

"Where did you get that?" Kakashi asked and Sasuke looked at him curiously.

"In the ocean, it was calling me." Sasuke answered. He then looked at the staff with the oddly shaped blade attached to the end. The blade glistened from the sunlight and the drops of water still clinging to the weapon. As a drop streamed down, Inuyasha and the rest of the group watched as the blade started to light up.

The blade liquefied and ran down the staff and into Sasuke's hand. It enveloped his hand and soon covered his entire body and the staff. The light that shined off him, momentarily blinded everyone. When the light died down, everyone adjusted their eyesight and saw something that amazed them.

Sasuke was holding onto a katana but it wasn't like most katana. The hilt was thin and metallic with a white cloth wrapped around it. The pommel was shaped like a lightning rod; it had a hole at the end, like a kunai except there were five spikes at the back with the one in the middle three and a half inches longer than the others. The blade itself was normal except for the kanji symbol for 'wolf' written on both sides of the blade.

Strapped to his waist was the dark blue sheathe with a blue ribbon keeping it in place. Sasuke eyed the katana with awe-struck silence before smiling.

"D-Did... did that just happen?" Kagome asked and Inuyasha glared at the katana.

"Seems suspicious." He said and Sasuke shook his shoulders.

"It's not fair that almost everyone got a new weapon while on our little trip. This makes us even." Sasuke said in defense. He swung the blade around to test its resistance to air and smirked when the results satisfied him.

"Awesome, now I got a new training partner. To be honest, aniki is getting too boring." Naruto taunted before getting locked in a headlock.

"Is that so?" Inuyasha growled as he began to choke Naruto out. Naruto swung his elbow back and hit Inuyasha's stomach, freeing him from his older brother's grip.

"Don't worry dobe, I'll give you a run for a money soon enough." Sasuke said and Naruto smirked, his eyes gleaming at the thought of fighting his rival and friend.

"We'll see." Naruto said as he grabbed the hilt of his sword.

"Do you know its name?" Kakashi asked Sasuke, changing the subject before his two charges started a fight in the middle of the bridge and make him pay for the damages.

Sasuke looked at his katana. The aura he felt from the blade was a sense of calm and peacefulness. However inside, Sasuke could feel that it was hungry for battle and wanted nothing more to be the best. Sasuke could relate to that, wanting nothing more to fight his brother and then kill him. The katana seemed to approve Sasuke's ambition and even felt a sense of loyalty from it. His grip tightened and Sasuke smiled.

"Raiju." Sasuke answered and Kakashi eye smiled.

"That's wonderful name. Now let's go, I just want to relax before my life get's any more complicated." Kakashi said as he headed off the bridge.

Off to the side, Hinata stood next to Kagome as they watched Naruto put an arm over Sasuke's shoulders and laugh as he told Sasuke something. Unamused by the words spoken to him, Sasuke grabbed Naruto and tossed him over the bridge.

"What's wrong Hinata-chan?" Kagome asked and Hinata quickly looked away.

"W-What do you mean?" She asked and Kagome frowned slightly.

"You seem sad." She answered and after a moment of hesitation, Hinata sighed.

"I just... wish I received something; Naruto-kun received his sword the day we fought Zabuza and Haku. Even Sasuke got a new katana. What did I get?" Hinata asked rhetorically. "I don't mean to complain and I don't want to sound ungrateful but I just feel left out." She said. Still not meeting Kagome's eyes, Hinata shook her head and looked up at her with her eyes closed.

"N-Never mind, f-forget I said anything." Hinata said as she made to walk off but was stopped by Kagome who grabbed her left shoulder.

"It's ok, Hinata-chan." Kagome said as she counsel her. "In fact, you did get something out of our little adventure." Kagome added with a wide smile. Hinata finally looked at Kagome as Kagome let go of her shoulder. She bent forward a little and had her right index finger up. She closed her left eye as she began to remind her.

"Remember what you did to Sesshōmaru?" Kagome asked and Hinata thought shook her head and Kagome giggled. She then stood completely straight, summoned a bow out of thin air and then fired an arrow that appeared in her hands. Hinata's eyes widened at this and she looked at her hands.

"I-I thought that was a d-dream." She stuttered out in amazement. Kagome just shook her head. "If that wasn't a dream then how...?" Kagome shrugged her shoulders.

"Maybe it was the Shikon Jewel." She said and Hinata looked crestfallen.

"So it was the jewel that made me do that."

"No, the jewel didn't do that. It only brought the power out of you." Kagome informed Hinata. "Since the moment I met you, Hinata-chan, I knew you were special. There was something different about you and this is it." Hinata gazed at Kagome in confused wonderment.

"What is 'it'? Hinata asked. Kagome bent down until her mouth was inches away from Hinata's ear.

"Spiritual Chakra." Kagome whispered and Hinata's eyes widened. After coming out of the water and standing next to Sasuke, Naruto picked Sasuke up and threw him over the bridge and into the ocean. "We'll talk more about it in Konoha. For now, let's just go home." Kagome said as she walked after Inuyasha who got tired of seeing Sasuke and Naruto fight.

Not expecting Sasuke to cling to the side of the bridge, Naruto was caught off guard when Sasuke grabbed onto his collar and dragged him into the water as well. Not phased or surprised by this, Hinata walked over the edge to see Naruto and Sasuke racing up the wall, probably to see who could reach the top first.

_'Spiritual chakra?'_ Hinata smiled softly as she stepped to the side just as Naruto and Sasuke jumped and landed on the bridge at the same time. Walking past them as they started arguing on who made it first, Hinata hoped that she could channel this spiritual chakra of hers to help her get Naruto to notice her as more than a friend and not some damsel in distress.

"Come on, Hinata-chan." Hinata blinked when Naruto grabbed her left hand. She blushed when she felt him tightened and pull her as he began to run towards everyone else. "We don't want to be left behind." Naruto said with a winning-smile. With the blush still covering her cheeks, Hinata smiled happily as she caught up to Naruto's speed.

Sasuke shook his head as he watched with amusement.

_'You have a lot to learn about women, dobe.'_

**[*.*.*.*]**_  
_

First hour or so the trip was silent. Everyone either had nothing to say or found the situation too awkward to talk. All except Naruto but the only reason he wasn't talking was because he was too busy thinking of a riddle Inuyasha had told him to ensure total silence. An hour later and Naruto was tempted to give up.

"That's not fair!" Naruto shouted, surprising everyone within hearing distance. He pointed an accusing finger at Inuyasha and glared at him. "The riddle you gave me was too hard." Inuyasha sighed with a sweat drop.

"I guess you're right." Inuyasha said and Naruto smirked.

"So what's the answer?" He asked.

"Ano…" Hinata interjected before Naruto could get his answer. "What was the riddle?" She asked.

"'What gets wetter as it dries?'" Naruto recited and everyone thought it over for a second before looking at Naruto like he was stupid. Their thoughts not very far from this idea.

"Oh, Naruto-kun."

"What?" Naruto looked at Hinata after hearing her speak.

"A towel, dobe." Sasuke answered and Naruto glared at him.

"That's the worst insult ever, teme." Naruto retorted and everyone sweat dropped.

"That's the answer, idiot." Sasuke explained and after thinking it over, Naruto sweat dropped, rubbed the back of his head and chuckled sheepishly.

"Uhm... right." Simultaneously, everyone released a sigh. Hoping to change the subject, Naruto looked at Zabuza.

"So what happened to those other two hanging around you." Naruto asked.

"They said they needed to tie up loose ends before they decided to do anything else." Zabuza answered but was annoyed when Naruto kept looking at him. "What?"

"What are you going to do?" At this, Haku tilted his head slightly, shifting his eyes on his surrogate father. Zabuza noticed Haku's movements and looked at the sky.

"I doubt it'll go the way I want it to but I have no other choice." Kakashi chuckled.

"So you took up my offer." Kakashi said more than asked. Zabuza glared at the cyclops.

"Yeah, I guess." He mumbled, discarding the notion as nothing more than mere words.

"So you're joining Konoha?" Naruto asked but Zabuza ignored Naruto. "I'll take that as a yes." Naruto smirked before looking at Haku and starting a conversation with him.

"Lousy brat." Zabuza murmured under his breath. Still, even if there was a big chance the Hokage wouldn't allow him to become a Konoha Shinobi, Zabuza was grateful he was offered a chance to give his surrogate son a real home.

After walking a while longer Kakashi stretched his limbs and stopped walking.

"Let's take a break. Konoha isn't that far off but a small break won't kill us, ne?"

"Lazy scarecrow." Inuyasha and Zabuza mumbled at the same time. Naruto looked at his two teammates as they became engrossed in their thoughts.

"Teme, Hinata-chan, come over here for a second." After snapping out of their thoughts, the two walked over to Naruto and he had a devious smile.

"What is it dobe?" Sasuke asked but Naruto kept his smirk. He motioned them to follow him, leading them to a secluded place so then no one can eavesdrop on them.

"I got an idea but I want to see what you guys think." Naruto said and Sasuke and Hinata looked at each other, knowing that there was a fifty-fifty chance the idea would get one of them maimed.

"S-Sure Naruto-kun." Hinata said and giving him a reassuring smile. Naruto mentally growled at his heart when it started beating quicker. He blushed and looked at the ground.

"O-Ok, here's the deal..." Naruto started explain his idea and during the explanation Sasuke and Hinata nodded their heads, liking the idea so far. Once in a while, Sasuke would shake his head or out right disagree and Naruto decided to compromise. When he finished, Naruto let out a breath and smiled widely.

"The only problem I'm having is when it should happen."

Hinata bit her bottom lip and poked her index fingers together. Sasuke closed his eyes and took deep breaths. Naruto decided to stay quiet to let them think it over.

"I got nothing." Sasuke finally said.

"I'm sorry, Naruto-kun." Naruto hung his head in disappointment.

"It's ok." Naruto said solemnly and sighed.

"I'm impressed dobe, never did I think you could come up with something like that."Sasuke praised and Naruto smirked as he shook his head.

"I'll get you back for this." Naruto said before sitting up straight and his head raised. His ears pricked up and his tail swayed. "Aside from that, do you have anything to add?" He asked them.

"A prize?" Sasuke offered.

"But what?" Naruto asked.

"Whatever the winners want as long as its reasonable?" She said, throwing in their two cents. Naruto and Sasuke looked at her before each other and shrugging.

"Sounds good." Naruto said.

"We're going to need an unbiased referee."

"True." Naruto said before raising an eyebrow. Naruto, Hinata and Sasuke looked around. "Who said that?"

"I did." Haku said as he jumped down from the tree over the three genin. "And I can be the referee." He said and Team 7 stared at him.

"Should we?" Naruto asked and Hinata and Sasuke nodded, seeing as he did have a point. "Alright, sure, welcome to the team." Naruto said and Haku smiled.

"There's also something else I can do." Haku said with a smile and Naruto knew the kind of smile he was smiling; a mischievous one.

**[*.*.*.*]**

Finally making it to the gates of Konoha, Naruto jumped through the threshold and took in a deep breath.

"Ah, home sweet home." He heard two people chuckle off to the left and when he looked, he saw two guards inside the booth.

"Nice to have you back." One of them said while the other one was catching his second wind. Kotetsu Hagane, the man who recovered first, waved friendly at Naruto.

"It's been really quiet since you left." Izumo Kamizuki added, throwing Naruto off. No one was this nice to him without having an alternate motive. Still, he couldn't see any malice or deception in these two.

"Hey dobe!" Naruto looked back and saw the rest of his team and companions finally catch up to him. "We're excited to see Konoha too but you could've waited for us." Sasuke said.

"Yeah well." Naruto chuckled sheepishly.

"Tch, loser." Naruto's fox ears twitched as he turned and saw one of the few people he couldn't stand.

"Neji." Naruto growled and Neji smirked at Naruto with an arrogant smirk.

"Neji-nii-san." Neji shifted his gaze at Hinata and frowned.

"Hinata-sama." He said solemnly, causing Hinata to look away.

"Hyūga." Sasuke walked beside Naruto and glared at Neji.

"Uchiha." Neji glared back before smirking. "Still having problems activating your Sharingan?" Sasuke scoffed before giving Neji a smirk of his own.

"Actually Hyūga," Sasuke activated his Sharingan and smirked wider when he saw Neji's shocked expression. "I got it a while ago." Neji composed himself before smirking again.

"Regardless, you're no better than the loser over here." Neji said as he looked at Naruto. He responded by growling and being held back by Haku who put a hand in front of Naruto.

"You must be Neji Hyūga." Haku said. Neji nodded, unsure what to think of Haku. "That's good because I've been waiting to tell you something." The temperature in the air around them suddenly dropped and Neji felt a chill travel up his spine.

"Don't disrespect my friends." He said in a soft tone but the message was as cold as the ice he manipulated. Neji shook off the chill that accompanied the look Haku gave him.

"Come on Haku," Zabuza said as he walked up to the group of genin. "We still need to talk to the Hokage. You can skewer the brat later." He added and Neji couldn't help but stare at the ex-Hidden Mist shinobi with fear. The two left with Kakashi and Inuyasha following behind.

"You kids have fun." Kakashi said sheepishly as he, Kagome and Inuyasha caught up to the two ex-Mist shinobi.

Silence over came the four genin as Naruto and Sasuke wanted to do nothing more than beat up the older shinobi. Seeing the look in their eyes, Neji smirked.

"I doubt any of you weaklings could lay a finger on me." Neji mocked as Naruto and Sasuke walked up to Neji and stood face to face with him. Before any of the three could do anything, a hand wrapped in gauze appeared on Neji's shoulder. The hand pulled him back and away from the two genin.

"Lee, what do you think you're doing?" Neji asked without turning his head. The black, bowl-cut haired boy in a green jumpsuit just stared at Sasuke.

"Sasuke Uchiha, I presume?" Sasuke nodded with a raised eyebrow and Lee walked up to him. "I want to fight you." Sasuke blinked and looked around. He then pointed at himself.

"Me?" Lee nodded and Sasuke smirked. He had no idea who this kid was but he picked a wrong time to want to fight Sasuke.

"That's fine with me." Sasuke said and Lee smirked.

"That's all fine and dandy but who am I going face?" Tenten said as she walked beside Neji. Hinata noticed that Tenten was looking at her.

"I should've known you were the cause of this Naruto." Naruto growled when he saw Kiba, Shino and Sakura walk up to them. Sakura's eyes immediately locked on Sasuke and she clung to his arms in a flash.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura said loudly and Sasuke groaned.

"Leave him alone, billboard brow." Sakura looked up and glared at Ino.

"What do you want, Ino-pig?" Sakura asked and Ino laughed but before she could reply, Naruto let loose his killing intent taught to him by Inuyasha. Everyone looked at him and he smiled. The problem he ran into earlier had coincidentally solved itself.

"It looks like everyone here has a bone to pick with someone." Naruto said as he looked around. "So let's make this interesting." He said with a glint in his eyes.

***.*.***

Everyone looked around as Naruto, Sasuke and Hinata lead them to a seemingly random training ground.

"This is where it's going to take place!" Naruto shouted, extending his arms out and letting his tail wag slowly behind him. The area was wide and spacious; more than enough room to run around like a shinobi with a sugar rush and after eating a soldier pill. It was pleasing to the eye without seeming too simple. Obviousl, this was a place of training and sparring if the scratches on tree and the logs planted up right were any indication.

"What's 'it'?" Ino asked and Naruto's smirk widened.

"Konoha's Annual Rookie Team Tournament!" Naruto announced and half of the people present scoffed at the idea. "We bring genins together and have a tournament to see which of the teams are the best of the best." Naruto said and everyone looked at each other and nodded.

"It's an idea I've had for a while now." Naruto said as he rubbed the back of his head. "Explain the rulse, teme!" Neji growled and Naruto chuckled.

"Not you, the other teme." Sasuke grumbled as he walked next to Naruto and stared at the Rookie 12 minus two with indifference.

"This tournament is a team-on-team tournament. That part's pretty much self-explanatory. A team will go up against another team, winning team advances. The only way a team will lose is if everyone on that team loses; an elimination match. Anyone who is knocked out for more than ten seconds, or gives up is automatically taken out of the fight. We decided that weapons of any kind are allowed." Sasuke started. He then looked at Hinata who blushed and stood next to Sasuke.

"You h-have to remain in the t-training ground d-during the fight. P-Poking someone in the eyes or hitting them in the... a-ano, g-groin is not allowed." She said and blushed a darker shade.

"And the most important rule is that killing the opponent is not allowed. Disobeying any of these rules results in getting your ass kicked from the tournament and/or sent to prison." Naruto finished and everyone murmured before they were silenced by Naruto producing a Shadow Clone and then stabbing it with a kunai, making it disperse.

"What was that for, dobe?" Sasuke asked and Naruto chuckled.

"Nothing really. All we need to do is get Shikamaru and Choji to come and then we'll be set." Naruto said and Hinata looked at him.

"What about Haku?" Hinata said and Naruto smiled confidently at her.

"He'll come soon. He got the message." Hinata and Sasuke looked at him oddly. "And now we wait." Naruto said as he sat in the lotus position in front of the rest of the genin. He kept his eyes closed and seemed to be in a meditative like state.

"Wait, who's going to go get Shikamaru and Choji?" Ino asked. Naruto kept his smirk in place, not moving with the exception of his golden ears and tail. Within the minute, everyone heard someone mutter the word 'troublesome'.

Walking into the training field was Shikamaru and Choji being escorted by Naruto.

"Naruto? What?" Ino looked at the Naruto next to Hinata and Sasuke and then at the one next to Shikamaru and Choji. "How?" The one next to Shikamaru and Choji disappeared in a puff of smoke. "A Shadow Clone?"

"I should've known, what a drag." Shikamaru said as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"That Naruto explained the basics but what's the prize?" Choji asked as he opened a fresh bag of chips. Without opening an eye, Naruto's smile widened.

"The prize..." Naruto said as he stood. "Is whatever you want it to be." Naruto said and opened his eyes. Everyone but Team 7 stared at him with wide eyes.

"Whatever we want?" Sakura asked incredulously and Naruto nodded his head.

"The team that wins the tournament gets whatever they want, individually of course. However, the request has to be reasonable. For example, its painfully obvious that Sakura and Ino want to go out with the teme." Naruto said and Sasuke stared at Naruto with a sense of betrayel.

"_Dobe!_" Sasuke whispered harshly.

"_Calm down, teme, I got this._" Naruto whispered back.

"Anyway, if Sakura's or Ino's team wins, she can force the teme to go out with her." Naruto said and stars light up in Ino's and Sakura's eyes. "And the rest of your teammates can ask for whatever they want." And suddenly, Naruto saw everyone think about what they wanted. His smirk was wiped clean off his face when he saw Neji look at Hinata with a sinister smirk. He then saw Kiba look at her as well and he had to control himself from attacking both of them.

The urge to beat Neji was as simple as things got. The look on his face promise a bad time for Hinata and therefore a threat to her. This did not bode well with him at all. Thus, with the feeling justified, Naruto had no problem beating the stick out of Neji's ass.

As for the desire to beat Kiba into the ground was something Naruto had no idea about. While the kid was arrogant and sometimes annoying, he didn't do much to deserve a beating. But the look he gave Hinata irked Naruto. He looked at her like she was the prize and he'd do anything to get that prize. Hinata was no prize. She was a person. She was a living, breathing person with thoughts and feelings. She was the best girl Naruto ever met and was too sweet and innocent for Kiba.

Not only that but Hinata was already his...

At this, Naruto blinked, blushed and looked at Hinata before looking away after she looked at him.

_'Mine? Where did that come from?'_ Naruto thought. He shook his head and pushed that odd thought to the back of his mind as he gathered the attention of his fellow genin.

"My fellow rookies," Naruto paused with a blank look before smiling widely. Sasuke and Hinata saw this look and knew he only got this face whenever a clone returned its memories to Naruto. "Let the tournament begin!" Naruto said as everyone moved towards the center of the clearing.

"So, I volunteer my team to go first." Naruto said and Sasuke nodded in agreement. Hinata just stood next to him.

"Who wants to go next?" Sasuke as he glared at the Hyūga Prodigy, wordlessly challenging him. Neji was about to speak but Kiba spoke up first.

"We will." Kiba smirked haughtily. Shino stepped beside his comrade and Sakura slapped kiba upside his head.

"You're nuts, I'm not going up against Sasuke-kun." Sakura said adamantly. Kiba rolled his eyes.

"This is what Kurenai-sensei is talking about, Sakura. we argue too much." Kiba said. "We gotta work together on this one so we can each get what we want... as a team." Kiba added and Sakura sighed.

"Fine." Sakura agreed and Naruto furrowed his brow with a smirk.

"So that leaves Team 9 up against Team 10." Naruto shifted his eyes to Kiba and their eyes connected. "I forgot to mention Haku will be the referee to make sure we abide by the rules."

"Who's Haku?" Ino asked and a boy appeared next to Naruto. Ino blushed at seeing him and looked down. Sasuke nodded his head, knowing now that Naruto had sent a clone to go get Haku.

"I'm a boy, just for future reference." Haku said and most of the boys looked away with a blush, Kiba particularly found the floor interesting. "I brought some help as well." Naruto raised an eyebrow before he felt someone place a hand over his shoulder. He looked up and saw an eyebrowless face look down at him.

"Zabuza?" Naruto moved away from Zabuza and saw that the swordsman seemed somewhat irked. He wondered though why his clone hadn't realized that they were being tailed by Zabuza.

"Don't get the wrong idea, kid. I'm doing this because I rather watch you brats hurt each other than take a tour with the scarecrow and the mutt." He then noticed that the Teams 8, 9 and 10 were staring at him. "What?" His gruff voice asked.

"Y-You're... You're..." Sakura stuttered.

"The Demon of the Hidden Mist, Zabuza Momochi." Shino finished for her. As emotionless as he seemed, if someone were to pay attention, they would hear the subtle buzzing of insects.

"Yeah, yeah, he's scary. Come on, I'm iching for a fight." Sasuke said.

"I got Kiba!" Naruto shouted, his excitement barely contained. The other two teams, although still shaken by having such an intimidating shinobi overseeing their fight, moved to the edge of the training ground and watched as Haku and Zabuza hid among the trees and teams 7 and 8 stared at each other.

"Don't go easy on me because I don't plan to go easy on you." Naruto said as he fell to all fours. His tail wagged excitedly behind him and his ears pricked up.

"Never planned on it." Kiba said as Akamaru barked and moved to his left side.

"You ready?" Sasuke asked Shino and he only nodded.

"I'm... I'm not going to hold back." Hinata told Sakura as she fell to her Gentle Fist stance.

"Same here." Sakura said. Naruto eyed Team 8 before running towards Kiba. Kiba prepared himself as Naruto jumped up and spun. As he did, he took in a deep breath and summoned his chakra to his claws.

"**Iron Reaver Soul Stealer!**" Golden blades of chakra ricocheted off Naruto's claws and headed for all member of Team 8. They all jumped out of the way and each were confronted by a member of Team 7.

Naruto swiftly appeared behind Kiba and kicked him behind the head. He flew across the clearing and landed on his feet as he stopped his world from spinning.

***.***

Sasuke applied a headlock to Shino and repeatedly kneed him in the back before letting him go, clasping both hands over his head and bringing it down on Shino's head. Shino hit the ground with a harsh thud before his body shook and dispersed into countless bugs. They headed towards Sasuke as he touched the ground. While his onyx eyes focused on the bugs heading towards him, Sasuke made hand signs and took in a breath.

"**Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!**" He spat out a fireball at the bugs and only a fifth of them were cremated. The rest of the bugs returned to their host who stood passively a few feet behind Sasuke.

"I see I have to be careful with you." Shino said and Sasuke smirked.

***.***

Sakura landed far away from the males and looked around for Hinata who was nowhere to be seen.

"I'm sorry but if I can't lose." Sakura turned to the left and saw Hinata running at her with veins popping around her eyes. Sakura took out a kunai and ran at her. She threw the kunai at Hinata who side stepped the flying weapon and was about to hit Sakura in the chest but was stopped when the kunai exploded. Hinata's balance was disruppted which gave Sakura enough time to set up a genjutsu.

Hinata's world rippled before it returned to normal.

_'A genjutsu.'_ She thought but while attempting to release herself from the genjutsu, she saw Sakura, Kiba and Shino standing in front of her, relaxed and smiling.

"W-Wha-?"

"We won Hinata." Sakura said as she moved to her side and allowed her to see Naruto and Sasuke beaten, bruised and unconscious, laying next to each other and tide up.

"Just give up, there's no way you can beat us by yourself." Kiba suggested with a supportive bark from Akamaru. Hinata stared in shock at Team 8 and then at her teammates.

_'Can I win now?' _Hinata thought. She saw Naruto raise his head and slowly open his swollen right eye.

"It's ok Hinata-chan, you can give up. We won't get mad." Naruto said and chuckled weakly. "Just give up." Hinata closed her eyes and her she didn't move her body.

Outside the genjutsu, Sakura took out a ball from her weapons pouch before tossing it to Hinata. The ball then exploded and two smaller balls connected by ninja wire spun around and tied her up. Hinata fell to her knees, still under the genjutsu's influence.

_'I'm sorry for the low blow Hinata but I can't lose here.'_ Sakura thought as she walked over to Hinata with a kunai.

Neji smirked as he watched his cousin on her knees, not responding to Sakura as she closed in. He knew she would lose to the pink haired girl but he didn't think it would be this quickly.

***.***

Naruto ducked under Kiba's swipe and back flipped away when Akamaru, transformed into Kiba, tried to claw his chest. Supported by his hind legs, Naruto looked at Kiba while thinking up a strategy. He was fast, Naruto gave him that. He was also cunning and had good reflexes. With Akamaru transformed as him, it was hard to tell who was who. If Naruto could defeat Kiba first, Akamaru would be easier to defeat.

"What's wrong?" Kiba asked smugly. The other Kiba just stared at Naruto with the same expression. Naruto narrowed his eyes before running to Kiba and punching him in the face. The second Kiba kicked Naruto in the gut. The first Kiba recovered and kneed Naruto in the face when he doubled over. Naruto shot up and took steps back and the two Kiba's chased after him.

Naruto fell on his back and gasped in pain when one Kiba landed on his stomach and flipped off before the second Kiba kicked Naruto in the back, sending him into the air.

Falling back to the ground, Naruto slowly got up. He looked up and his eyes widened when Kiba came down and was able to swipe his claw against Naruto's chest. Naruto spun from the momentum. The second Kiba swung his left claw, hit, then swung his right claw. The first Kiba did a back flip off Naruto's head and jumped off him, making him bend forward. The second Kiba took this opening to uppercut Naruto's chin and kick it as well during his back flip. Naruto was sent up in the air while both Kibas coiled themselves to spring up and claw Naruto in the chest and in the back.

Naruto fell to the ground and Kiba landed on his feet with Akamaru, back in his normal form, on top of his head.

"Tch, that was too easy." Kiba said and Akamaru barked. He then whined as Naruto shifted to his knees and then to his feet with his body leaning forward. Kiba growled, hoping that he had ended the fight and eliminated Naruto so he could help Shino and Sakura. Naruto chuckled as he brought his head up and stared at Kiba with an excited look in his eyes.

"Good warm up." Naruto said as he cracked his neck and grunted in pleasure. "Now let's get serious." Kiba glared at Naruto as he readied himself.

***.***

Sasuke watched as Shino's bugs headed towarsd him. His sense of awareness has been put to the test since the fight against Shino began. His insects have been frequently coming out of nowhere and trying to take advantage of their numerous allies. Because of their countless numbers but moderate speeds, Sasuke had no need to use his Sharingan for it would be a waste of chakra. He was perfectly content with not know how many insects surrounded him and still catch up to them in terms of speed.

As Sasuke dodged and parried off Shino's insects with a kunai and fire, he couldn't help but see that Shino was in the back, letting his bugs do all the fighting. Shino repeatedly drove him back at a distance so his bugs could do the major fighting. Sasuke concluded that his taijutsu was a little less than adequate for any shinobi. If this was true, all Sasuke had to do was get close enough to knock Shino out. He doubted the Aburame would give up on his own so he decided to take the fight to him.

Making hand signs, Sasuke spat out another fireball as Shino's insects got out of its way and continued towards Sasuke. Sasuke quickly ran past the bugs before they could latch onto him and headed for Shino. Shino summoned a column of insects to intercept Sasuke. He stopped, bent his legs and jumped over the column. Without missing a beat, Sasuke turned and punched Shino with his left fist.

Shino retaliated by extending his leg and kicking Sasuke in the sternum. He gasped from the kick and took a step back. Shino landed on his back but rolled and moved to his feet. Sasuke threw Shino some kuani and shuriken after catching his breath. He summoned his bugs to stop the weapons but didn't see Sasuke run under him and kick his chin. Shino was sent airborne and Sasuke followed it up with a jump and an ax kick to the sternum.

Shino was saved from an excruciating landing by his bugs who righted him. Sasuke jumped on top of Shino but it was actually a bug clone which dispersed and enveloped Sasuke. Shino moved his hands and arms, controlling his army of insects to suck all the chakra out of Sasuke. He frowned when Sasuke replaced himself with a log. He turned and saw Sasuke thrust a kunai towards his stomach. The kunai hit nothing when a hole appeared in Shino and he broke down into bugs again. They put some distance between them and Sasuke and morphed back into Shino.

Running to his opponent. Shino sent a punch to Sasuke's head but Sasuke ducked. Not allowing the Uchiha to get off that easily, Shino turned and was able to land a backhanded punch to Sasuke's face. Sasuke spun, dizzy from the hit, and couldn't stop Shino from punching the other side of his face with his right fist and then a left uppercut.

"You thought because I kept my distance, I did not know how to fight with my hands. Big mistake." Shino told him. Sasuke used his momentum to back flip and jump high into the sky. Six hand sings later, Sasuke spat out multiple small fireballs that headed straight for Shino. Efficiently dodging all of the fireballs, Shino headed for Sasuke but was stopped when he felt wires tighten around his body. He groaned when some shuriken and kunai pierced his skin and securely placed themselves there.

"Give up or I'll have to make you." Sasuke said, offering Shino a painless way out.

"You do what you have to do, Sasuke Uchiha." Shino said as he replaced himself with a log. "And I'll do what I have to." This fight was starting to tax on his chakra so Shino decided that this next move would determine what the outcome of their fight would be.

From behind Sasuke, Shino extended his arms out and summoned all of his insects.

***.***

Sakura knelt down besides Hinata and placed the tip of the kunai against Hinata's throat. Before she was able to release the genjutsu and allow Hinata a chance to give up before she was knocked out, Sakura was surprised when Hinata puffed into smoke.

_'A Shadow Clone?'_ She thought alarmingly. Neji's eyes widened and clenched his fist.

_'She never fell for the genjutsu?'_

"I'll never give up." Hinata said as she appeared out of nowhere and bent lower from her usual stance. "You're in my field of divination." Sakura's eyes widened.

"**Eight Trigrams Thirty-two Palms!**" Hinata zoomed in front of Sakura and started hitting her with her chakra-powered fingertips. "Two palms, four palms..." Sakura took two steps back while Hinata shifted her legs forward. "Eight palms..." Hinata then kicked Sakura's feet from under her but kept her in the air with her hits. "Sixteen palms..." Before the sixteenth mark, Hinata spun and kicked Sakura on the side of her head, making her rotate in midair. "Thirty-two palms!" Hinata shouted as she continued to pummel Sakura until she hit the thirty-second chakra point and sent Sakura rolling back.

Sakura struggled to stand but with some of her chakra points closed, it pained her to even try. Hinata stayed where she was as she watched Sakura sigh painfully.

"I'm not able to continue. You won this one, Hinata." She said reluctantly. Hinata let out a breath and relaxed from her stance. Haku appeared and nodded his head to Hinata before picking Sakura up and taking her to the others, where it was safe and away from the fights.

She took another breath as she turned her attention to Naruto who was just about done with his warm up. She ignored the chill that ran up her spine as she mentally rooted for her teammates and went over to Sakura to reopen her chakra points. Neji just glared at her, spiteful of her victory.

***.***

A tidal wave of bugs rushed past Shino and towards Sasuke who seemed to refuse to move from his place. His katana pulsed from his waist and he looked at it. He took it out of its sheathe and watched as it pulsed again. Sasuke continued to stare at it in awe as he felt the katana tell him something. No words were said or heard but the message was clear.

Gripping the katana tightly, Sasuke ran towards the wave of bugs and coiled Raiju over his head. Pumping chakra into the blade, Sasuke swung down just as the wave was about to hit him. His eyes widened when he saw that the blade released a small burst of fire and burned an escape route through the wave. Making it through the gape in the wave, Sasuke re-sheathed Raiju and ran towards Shino but stopped when he raised his hands up in surrender.

"That move used up too much of my chakra. I forfeit." Sasuke let his shoulder drop and a smirk to grace his lips. "Interesting katana. Where did you get it?" Shino asked as he and Sasuke walked over to Sakura, Hinata and the others. Sasuke eyed the katana before coming up with a reply.

"I guess you could say it was given to me." Shino nodded, knowing he wasn't going to say more than that.

"You know your team is going to win." Shino stated and Sasuke let out a short chuckle.

***.***

By himself, Naruto was a handful. His unpredictability, cleverness and mischievous nature made him a worthy opponent in battle. The fact that he was hanyō made him ten times trickier and stronger. However, having the ability to call forth an army of Narutos made Naruto an almost unstoppable force. His strong will and stubbornness to continue fighting evenly distributed to the hundreds or even thousands of clones would make any adversary shake in fear.

Right now, Kiba and Akamaru were single handedly fighting a literal one man army. They have lost count in the number of times they've seen Naruto go 'poof' and yet it seemed like it would never end. It didn't seem likely that the boy would grow tired of sending countless of clones to do his dirty work. And Kiba was starting to get sick of it.

"That's enough!" Kiba shouted as he grabbed Akamaru and jumped away from the clones. Popping a pill into his and Akamaru's mouth, Kiba gained feral features as Akamaru transformed into his master and assumed the position he and Kiba practiced many times.

"Ready Akamaru?" The Kiba clone nodded and they both ran towards the clones and began to spin rapidly. "**Fang over Fang!**" He shouted as they became live tendrils and started to cut down the clones. They turned and continued to tear through the clones as they each disappeared one by one. Finally, after the area cleared of the smoke that remained after a clone's demise, there was only one Naruto left standing. Both tendrils came toward him from both sides, hoping to catch him in the middle.

_'This is it.'_ Naruto thought as he steeled himself and reinforced his feet with chakra. Both Kibas came down on Naruto only to be stopped by Naruto's hands. He ignored the pain in his arms and hands as his claws slowly got a grip on the tendrils and they came to a sudden stop. The Kibas blinked in astonishment before being tossed into the air.

Dipping his nails in the blood dripping from his palms, Naruto put chakra into them and swung them up.

"**Blades of Blood!**" Naruto shouted as the crimson blades raced up and rained on Kiba and Akamaru. None of the cuts were fatal but they were painful. At their peak, the two headed for the ground and had no intentions of stopping. They hit the ground with a loud thud and remained motionless. The Kiba on the left was surrounded by a puff of smoke before revealing an unconscious Akamaru.

"How troublesome." Shikamaru stated. "He could've done that earlier and ended the fight sooner. Tch, troublesome kid."

Zabuza used the body flicker technique to appear over Kiba and stood.

"You knocked them out pretty good, brat." Zabuza said with a chuckle. Naruto smirked at this and gave him a thumbs up.

"Did you expect any less?" Naruto asked before slowly heading to rest with his team.

"Had a hard time, dobe?" Sasuke asked and Naruto laughed.

"I decided to let him think he had the upperhand before I really got serious." Naruto said and frowned when he heard Neji scoff.

"I doubt it." He muttered and Naruto glared at the boy.

"_If_ you win the next round, I guess you'll find out just how serious I can get." Naruto taunted and again, Neji scoffed.

"There are no 'if's about it. Destiny has chosen me to win this next fight and the little tournament your team has created. Come Tenten, Lee." Neji walked towards the center of the training field, followed by his two teammates.

"U-Uhm..." Ino hesitated to go as she turned her gaze to her fellow teammates. Choji was eating his bag of chips a little faster than usual, his way of showing his nervousness. Shikamaru was thinking about how much of a good idea it would be to fight this team. They were a year older than them and had an extra year of experience. They weren't as seasoned as a chunin but they might as well have been.

"We have no chance of winning." Shikamaru said and everyone looked at him.

"You're just being pessimistic." Naruto said and Shikamaru shook his head.

"These guys play for keeps." Shikamaru's eyes narrowed as they rested on Neji's waiting form. "Especially the Hyūga. He's seems to be the most controlled yet the most violent. That's what makes him a dangerous opponent."

"Shikamaru is right." Shino said. "I've seen him spar once before; he truly is a dangerous individual."

"So you're just going to give up?" Sasuke asked and Shikamaru nodded.

"What?" Ino shrieked, making Shikamaru flinch and thrust his pinky in his left ear. He was wondering how long the blond would hold her breath. He sighed as he guessed she only spoke up because she didn't want to seem like a quitter in front of her crush.

"There would be no point. At most, we'd only last for five minutes... maybe more, maybe less. I gotta say less." He then faced his team. "If we work together, we might be able to take one of them down, maybe. The fact that our team's main focus is interrogation and stalling, not to fight head on means we can't stand up to a team that is trained for combat. I would rather not fight a hopeless fight but if you guys still want to fight, as troublesome as it may be, I guess I'll fight too." Ino and Choji looked at each other and sighed.

While Shikamaru had made valid point, Ino didn't want to seem weak in front of Sasuke and the new boy would disappeared minutes after dropping off Sakura. She didn't want either of the boys to think she was a scared little girl playing ninja. She noticed that Choji seemed to struggle to come up with a decision as well. Steeling herself to a decision, Ino nodded her head.

"We might as well try." Ino said and Choji nodded.

"What a drag. Come on, let's get this over with." Shikamaru sighed and team 10 moved in front of team 9.

"So you've decided to accept your loss?" Neji asked with a smug look when team 10 stood in front of him.

"Shut up. We're just here to have some fun and to test ourselves against the great Hyūga and his team." Shikamaru answered lazily and sarcastically. Neji frowned.

"So, are you the leader?" He asked and Shikamaru shook his head.

"That would be Asuma-sensei." He answered non-chalantly. However, after thinking a little, he shrugged his shoulders with indifference. "I suppose right now though, I am the leader. And as the leader, I won't let my team down." He added and Neji let out a short chuckle.

"Bold words coming from someone who's going to lose." Neji mocked as he shifted to the Gentle Fist stance.

"Maybe." Shikamaru said as he took his hands out of his pockets.

"You brats ready?" Zabuza said as he stood in between the two teams. He then burst into water and chuckled in the distance. "You can start to kill each other."

Shikamaru was the first to start as he threw a black ball to the floor and it exploded, releasing a temporary blinding light. Team 9, temporarily blinded, rubbed their eyes and when they reopened it they saw that team 10 was gone.

"Cowards." Neji muttered before ducking under a kick sent by Lee.

"Lee! Don't attack your own teammate!" Tenten yelled only to jump back when he did a back flip and almost knocked her out with a harsh kick to the head. "HEY!"

"Don't bother Tenten, this is the blond's work." Neji said as he focused his now active Byakugan eyes on the area around him. He saw Ino lying down next to the tree near the other genin. He knew of the Yamanaka clan's legendary Mind Transfer Jutsu and Neji knew she performed it when Shikamaru had threw the flash bomb down. He saw Shikamaru was hiding behind a boulder that had chakra circulating through it. His eyes widened when the boulder started to spin rapidly and head towards them.

"Look out Tenten!" Neji warned her as he jumped away from Choji and saw that he turned direction and head for Tenten who was kept busy by Lee. His cursed under his breath as he landed and headed straight for Ino's body. Mere feet away, he suddenly came to a stop and couldn't make his body move.

_'What's going on?' _He thought. Without his discretion, his head turned to the right and saw Shikamaru crouched down with his hands making the 'Rat' seal.

"**Shadow Possession Jutsu,** success." Shikamaru smirked as he said this and stood up. Neji was forced to mimic his movements as he walked towards Shikamaru. Now standing face to face with each other, Shikamaru smirked victoriously.

"Anything you want to say?" Shikamaru asked and Neji scoffed.

"What would I have to say to a loser like you?" Neji mocked with a smug smirk and Shikamaru frowned.

"I feel sorry for you Neji." He stated, confusing Neji.

"What did you say?" Neji asked.

"You think you're superior to everyone, that you're above everyone here." Shikamaru shook his head, making Neji do the same. "That's why I feel sorry for you. You have no one to lean on when you need help. No friends." Shikamaru said.

"I don't need friends." Neji said after not speaking for a while. Shikamaru just smirked.

"I knew you were going to say that." He looked up at the sky and reached into his back pouch and took out a kunai with an paper bomb attached to it. Neji's eyes widened when all he took out was a normal kunai.

"I'm glad I prepared for this or I'd be in trouble." Shikamaru lazily tossed the kunai up in the air and it landed ten feet behind Neji. Neji's kunai landed ten feet behind Shikamaru. Shikamaru then began to take steps back, nearing Neji's kunai as Neji nears Shikamaru's kunai.

"So you're going to blow me up because you don't like me?" Neji asked.

"Please, at most, you'll be knocked unconscious." Shikamaru said as he stopped two feet away from the kunai. Forming a hand sign, Shikamaru activated the paper bomb and released the shadow possession technique a second before Neji was enveloped by explosion. Through the dust and smoke, something flew into the air, covered by the smoke. Shikamaru's eyes widened when the thing in the sky was just a log.

"I'm down here." Shikamaru turned just in time to see Neji appear in front of him with the Byakugan active.

"**Eight Trigrams Sixty-four Palms**." Neji stated as he began to close Shikamaru's chakra points. "Two palms, four palms, eight palms, sixteen palms, thirty palms, sixty-four palms!" Neji ended the attack and sent Shikamaru flying and rolling to a stop.

"I... I can't... move." He struggled to even speak. He looked up and saw Neji stand over him.

"Do you still feel sorry for me?" Neji asked and Shikamaru smirked weakly.

"You already know my answer. It's too troublesome to answer again." Neji frowned.

"That's too bad." Neji said as he raised his right hand to strike but was stopped when a hand grabbed his wrist. He looked back and was surprised to see the boy from before. Neji barely noticed movement and even then he didn't react fast enough to stop the boy from grabbing his wrist.

"That's as far as you go." Haku said. Neji released his wrist from Haku and went to go end the rest of the fight. Haku helped Shikamaru to his feet and dragged him back to the others.

"That was an interesting fight." Haku said and Shikamaru chuckled mirthlessly.

"Wish it was less painful." Haku chuckled before gently sitting him down, propped against a tree.

"That boy is very skilled." Haku commented and Shikamaru nodded.

"I expected no less from the Hyūga clan's prodigy." Shikamaru said. _'But to be able to replace himself with a log a second after I released him is insane.'_ Shikamaru thought as he watched Tenten dodge Lee's and Choji's attacks. He then sighed and turned to Hinata.

"Mind helping me?" He asked and Hinata nodded.

"I might not be as skilled as nii-san but I can reopen you chakra points. Stay still please." Hinata said as she began to reopen his chakra points.

Tenten threw kunai and shuriken at Lee while keeping her distance from the human boulder trying to roll over her. Wanting to turn this in her favor, Tenten dropped a paper bomb without Choji's noticing and jumped away when he headed for her again. When she was in a safe distance, she activated the paper bomb just as Choji rolled over it. It exploded and sent Choji through the air and into a tree.

_'Choji!' _Ino thought loudly, still inside Lee.

"Leave his body, you have no way of winning now." Tenten said as Ino saw Choji lay unconscious near her body.

"I'll hurt him if you don't give up." Ino said desperately as she took out a kunai and aimed it at Lee's arm. Tenten didn't flinch and Ino raised an eyebrow. She was about to ask why she wasn't worried when she felt her right arm go numb and drop the kunai. She turned, only to came face to face with Neji as he shut down all of Lee's limbs. She fell and couldn't control Lee's body to stand again.

_'Oh no!' _She returned to her body and looked around only to see that she was covered with paper bombs. Standing over her was Tenten before she ran away from her so she wouldn't get caught in the blast.

"Give up." Neji said as he stood over Lee's body.

"What happened?" Lee shouted in confusion. "Oh, that's not fair!" He moaned as Neji began to reopen his closed chakra points.

"F-Fine, I give up." Ino said as she closed her eyes.

"Too late." Tenten said as she activated the notes tagged on Ino's body. Everyone watched with widened eyes as Tenten made the hand sign that activated the paper bombs. Haku wanted to interfere but Zabuza stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. Ino let out a cry before she heard something 'poof' and felt something soft land on her nose. She opened her eyes and saw confetti of different colors and sizes slowly land on top of her and on the ground.

"Confetti bombs." Tenten said cutely as she closed her eyes and smiled. Ino just stared at the confetti with wide eyes before fainting.

"Well, that was... unexpecting." Shikamaru said as he let out a breath he didn't know he was holding.

"That's not fair, I didn't even get a chance to fight. I still want to fight." Lee whined but Naruto waved his hands, waving off hiss comment.

"Your teammate looks tired. We're going to take a fifteen break before the final fight." Naruto said as he stood.

"How unyouthful." Lee muttered.

"Now if you'll excuse us, we'll be heading for ramen." Naruto said as he began to head for Ichiraku's with Hinata and Sasuke following.

***.*.*****.***

"So what are we going to do?" Sasuke asked Naruto as they waited for their ramen to be served. Naruto leaned back and sighed.

"We're going to fight and we're going to win. Simple as that." Naruto answered.

"I-I don't think it will be that simple, Naruto-kun." Hinata stated and Naruto looked at her.

"Maybe but we will win. I have confidence in us." Naruto said as he leaned forward and gave a glance to both his teammates. "Hinata will handle Tenten, Sasuke will keep Lee busy and I'll beat the crap out of Neji." Naruto told them.

"You seem so confident." Naruto looked back to see Shino walk in with the rest of his team.

"Sasuke-kun." Sakura said weakly as she limped over to give him a hug. Sasuke sighed as he mentally wished her away. He ignored the steady increase of his heart rate.

"Nice fight." Kiba said in a tried voice. Naruto stared at him warily before smirking. They bumped their fist and Kiba sat to Sasuke's left, ignoring his crazy teammate hugging Sasuke from behind. Naruto sat in between Sasuke and Hinata while Shino sat to Hinata's right.

"So, what do you got planned?" Kiba asked and Naruto shrugged his shoulders.

"Just fight until we win." Naruto answered.

"That won't do." Shino said and Naruto stared at him oddly.

"Huh?"

"Those three are experienced." A new voice said as everyone turned to see Shikamaru walk in.

"Where are Ino and Choji?" Hinata asked.

"That Haku person's healing them. It's not that bad but they won't wake up for another ten minutes... maybe. Its hard to say." He said as he sat down on the chair farthest to the left.

"What were you saying?" Naruto asked and Shikamaru groaned.

"Just fighting them won't be enough. They have been active for a year now and they know how important it is to stick together if they can't solve the problem alone." Shikamaru intertwined his hand and fingers together and placed them in front of his mouth as he lay his elbows on the counter. "If they feel its necessary, they'll work together and take you out one by one." Shikamaru said seriously. The look he gave team 7 made them look away.

"It's not like we're _not_ going to work together. We do have formations and junk for such occasions." Naruto said. Shikamaru raised an eyebrow.

"Really?" Sasuke and Hinata nodded their heads, vouching for Naruto.

"For now, let's not think about that." Ayame said as she came and served team 7. "Dig in. Does anyone want some too?" She asked the newcomers but they shook their heads.

"We were just leaving, thank you." Shikamaru said as he stood and walked out of the small restaurant. Shino also nodded and helped Kiba out as well. Sakura was reluctant to separate from Sasuke but did so after being persuaded by Shino and his bugs.

Now alone, team 7 got lost in their thoughts as they thought about facing team 9. Could they really pull off an upset and defeat team 9? As confident as Naruto had felt earlier, it now seemed to have left him just like team 8 and Shikamaru left the ramen bar.

"I think we'll have to go all out." Naruto finally said, bring everyone out of their thoughts. They slowly nodded their heads, knowing what Naruto spoke of was the truth. "We'll need to stick together and fight them as one. Watch each others back and make sure none of us get eliminated." Naruto then smirked as he faced Sasuke.

"I guess this means we'll get to use our new weapons." Naruto said and Sasuke smirked.

"Yeah." Hinata, who had watched their interaction stood and walked out of the ramen bar.

"Where are you going Hinata-chan?" Naruto asked. She looked back and forced a smile.

"I'll be back in time for the fight." Was all Hinata said before she walked off. Naruto and Sasuke looked at each other with a questioningly look before Sasuke shrugged his shoulders and went to finish his ramen. Naruto looked in the direction Hinata left in and sighed. He hoped she would be ok, she seemed sad. He wanted to follow her but something told him to stay put and wait for her to come on her own.

Breathing in the ramen, Naruto wondered how exactly their fight would end. He sighed when he could only see Neji's team winning. Looking into his ramen, Naruto could only hope that they would walk out victorious. For now, hope was the only thing keeping him going.

"Keep hope alive." He looked up and smiled when he saw that it was Tenchi, Ichiraku's owner and chef, that spoke. Naruto nodded his head and downed the entire ramen in one go.

* * *

**That's all for now... I promise I'll update sooner than later... Not sure when that is but I promise...**

**Just so you guys know, I got everything handled... Every unanswered question will get it answer soon, I promise... most probably in the next chapter...**

**I hope the fights were violent enough for you and entertained you... I still need work on my fighting scenes but I'm slowly getting there...**

**Once again, I'd like to apologize from my absence... I'm sure most of you are disappointed in me and I'm sorry but life's too needy right now... Especially with the problem that's going on in my house... Thats' no excuse but whatever...**

**Till next time and if you would please review, I'd really appreciate it...**

**Till next time...**

**Next Chapter: All or Nothing, actions speak louder than words...**

******Good luck with whatever and if you got a problem with me or one of my stories, please feel free to: Deal with it, Get over it or Choke on it...**  



	20. All or Nothing

**Yo**

**Hope ya enjoy the new chapter...**

**I'm tired...**

_**"Stick and stones may break your bones, but I will kick you repeatedly in the balls!"  
-**_**Will Ferrel in _Step Brothers_**

**Chapter 20: All or Nothing, actions speak louder than words...**

**I don't own anything...**

* * *

Naruto stared at his current opponent and glared.

_'The white-eyed bastard's going down.'_ Naruto thought as he saw said bastard glare back. Sasuke just passively waited for Hinata to show up while Neji's two teammates were starting to get a bit impatient. They had arrived from their break a few minutes ago but Hinata had yet to arrive. Teams 8 and 10 waited patiently for Hinata but teams 7 and 9 were another story.

"Where did Hinata-sama go?" Neji asked, his voice dripping with sarcasm. Naruto just scoffed.

"Don't worry, she'll be here." _'I hope'_ Naruto thought as he watched Neji continue his glare. Something in Naruto's head yelled for the Hyūga's head, to watch him bleed to death with pleasure. The thought of watching the Hyūga die in such a manner sent adrenaline through Naruto's veins and excited him to the point that he smirked with his fangs growing slightly bigger and followed by the licking of his lips. He blinked.

The 'voices' weren't so much as actual voices as much as feelings he felt bubble in him from time to time. It wasn't a problem now so he refrained from telling anyone about it but he would occasionally get the feeling that this would lead to a problem later in the future.

Shaking his head from one of his clones' memories, he walked up to Sasuke and motioned him to follow him. Walking away from team 9, Naruto put his arm over Sasuke's shoulder.

"My clones couldn't find Hinata-chan anywhere." Naruto told him and Sasuke grunted.

"This is not good." He said and Naruto nodded his head. Sasuke then looked at Naruto, suddenly getting an idea. "I got an idea."

"What is it?" Naruto asked, blinking in wonder.

"Make a Hinata clone to take her place." Sasuke said and Naruto's blinking quickened.

"EH?" Sasuke covered Naruto's mouth as he looked back and saw that no one heard him or cared. Naruto's muffled voice was starting to get on Sasuke's nerves. He removed his arm but Naruto had yet to notice.

"-so when I was a kid, I fell into the barrel, came out and punched the guy in the face." Naruto said and glared at Sasuke, who sighed.

"I have no idea why you told me that and I don't want to." Sasuke said. "I was only suggesting that you make a Hinata clone until Hinata comes back." Sasuke explained and Naruto looked at him oddly.

"Let's say I go with this plan, teme, what will Hinata-chan think when she comes and sees a second Hinata-chan fighting?"

"We could explain it to her after the fight." Sasuke answered and Naruto thought it over, looking at the ground.

"I-I'd be ok with it." Both members of team 7 looked up to see Hinata smiling tiredly at them.

"Hinata-chan!" Naruto shouted and hugged her. She blushed and squeaked at the sudden hug from her crush.

"Easy boy." Naruto glared at Sasuke as he stood in front of Hinata. "Where were you?" He asked and she looked at her hands.

"I-I'm sorry, I was just taking care of some l-last minute business." Hinata said before bowing. "I'm sorry."

"Ne, ne, it's ok Hinata-chan." Naruto waved off and smiled. She looked up at the smile and blushed a deeper shade of red. "Now that you're here, we can start." He continued as he pulled out a pill from his pouch.

"You look tired, eat this." He said as he tossed her the pill. She looked at it and blinked.

"A food pill?" She asked and Naruto nodded his head. Hinata nodded as she swallowed the pill. Naruto turned and he and his team walked to the center of the clearing where team 9 waited. Hinata and Sasuke followed after him and were now face to face with their opponents; Naruto glared at Neji, Sasuke smirked as he and Lee fell into a battle stance and Tenten took out two scrolls while Hinata bowed to her before falling into the Gentle Fist.

"I'm not holding back." Neji said, loud enough for everyone to hear.

"You better not." Naruto growled and blinked when Haku and Zabuza appeared in between the teams. "What?" Naruto asked.

"How about we make this a little more interesting?" Zabuza asked and Naruto and Sasuke raised an eyebrow.

"What do you have in mind?" Sasuke asked and under his wrappings, Zabuza smirked as he tossed his zanbatō to the side. It stuck itself on the bark of a tree. Zabuza made hand signs and sucked in a breath.

"**Water Style: Exploding Water Shock Wave!**" He spat out a ton of water and it began to flood the clearing. Haku put up an ice border around so the area could retain the water. Teams 8 and 10 climbed up trees, not knowing how to walk on water yet. Naruto, Sasuke, Hinata, Zabuza, Haku, Tenten and Neji stood on top of the water, amazed by the event they just saw happen. Lee popped out of the water, taking in a deep breath.

"This is not fair!" He shouted and a portion of the water changed into ice, giving Lee somewhere to stand.

"That's not all." Zabuza said as he looked at Haku who nodded. Haku made hand signs and different portions of the water became icy platforms. Also, spikes made of ice rose from the bottom of the water and some were taller than the trees while some barely reached the surface.

"Enjoy." Haku said as the two ex-missin-nin sat up in the trees, knowing that this was going to be an interesting match. Neji activated his Byakugan and disappeared.

"Wha-?" Naruto reacted quickly as he jumped out of a flying kunai's way and looked to see Tenten unrolling her scrolls. _'Damn it, Neji.'_

Hinata ducked under Neji's kick and flipped back when he tried to hit her face with his palm. She was grateful to have activated her Byakugan before the match actually started, otherwise, she knew she would've been knocked out before the fighting actually started.

"I've been waiting for an opportunity like this to present itself for a while now." Neji said as Hinata wobbly stood her ground. The way her cousin stared at her spooked her. She's never seen so much hatred in someone's eyes and it scared her that one can hold so much at one time. She had no idea what she did to deserve such hatred but she wanted to find out.

Sasuke just stared at Lee as he stood on his ice island, perfectly balanced on top of it. Then, without a word, he leaped towards him, cocking his left leg back before releasing it. Sasuke ducked and swung up, hoping to hit Lee's chin. He was, however, surprised to see Lee bend his body back and submerge into the water. Sasuke grunted as he looked down. He was once again surprised when Lee was nowhere to be seen. He heard someone jump out of the water and saw Lee get on top of the platform that was on the other side of the clearing.

_'He's fast.'_ Sasuke thought as he ran to him as he turned and smirked.

***.***

Naruto jumped on top of a tall ice spike and used his chakra to stick on as he watched Tenten take out another scroll.

"I like the sword!" Tenten shouted and Naruto smirked.

"So do I." He answered and Tenten got a gleam in her eyes.

"Mind if I see it?" She asked and Naruto shook his head.

"Sorry, no can do." He answered and Tenten frowned.

"Come on!" She whined and Naruto just shook his head.

"Nu-huh. Sorry but I could seriously hurt you with this." He answered.

"I've trained with swordsmen before; you're probably nothing compared to them." Tenten mocked, hoping to rile up the hanyō.

"Oh yeah?" Naruto shouted as he unsheathed his sword. Tenten smirked; she didn't think he'd get so angry so fast. She summoned a normal looking katana and watched as Naruto held his above his head. Tenten's eyes lit up with hearts at seeing such a beauty. It was bigger than her katana but it was way smaller than Zabuza's beauty of a zanbatō. The red wrapping over that hung from the bottom of the blade looked clean and silky. The black and white wrapping on the hilt also attracted Tenten's eyes. Everything about the sword attracted Tenten's attention and she was glad when it got closer.

_'It's getting closer?'_ She thought confusingly.

Tenten blinked as she raised her katana over her head, just as Naruto brought his sword down. Her eyes widened at the strength Naruto put behind the swing. She jumped back just as Naruto tried to kick her sternum. Naruto and Tenten ignored the sudden heat from a fireball made by Sasuke and ran at each other again. Tenten swung low and Naruto jumped over it as he raised his knee. Too quick to get hit, Tenten shifted to the left and positioned her katana to strike Naruto's chest.

Naruto closed his eyes as he waited for his chest to be hit. He fell on his back and blinked as he didn't feel a wound on his chest. He looked up and saw Tenten smiling at him with her katana pointing at him.

"No killing, remember?" Tenten said and Naruto smirked as he released the chakra from his back, making him fall into the water and surprising Tenten. Using his tail as an extra source of speed, Naruto swam a good distance away from Tenten and resurfaced, only to jump up into the air to avoid being impaled from kunai and shuriken. He landed on an ice platform and watched as Tenten charged after him. He grabbed his sword with both hands and blocked Tenten's diagonal slash.

He growled as he pushed her away, glad that he had the physical advantage over her. Her feet slid against the water and finally came to a halt a few feet away from Naruto.

_'I could easily take her out but the more time I take with her, the more time Neji has with Hinata-chan. And Sasuke...'_ He looked to the left and saw Sasuke getting a harsh knee to the face by Lee. _'Bushy Brows seems to be giving him a hard time. Kuso!'_ Naruto cursed in his mind and clenched his sword tightly. He ran at Tenten as she was once again outmatched by the blond hanyō in terms of strength.

Bored with their usual actions, Naruto decided to see if he could catch her off guard by his speed. He retracted his sword and swung to the left. She blocked it and was surprised when he tried to hit her over her head. She blocked it once more but jumped over Naruto's swift arc to her feet. She shifted her katana so the blade was parallel to the ground, parrying off Naruto's vertical slash. She noticed that his strikes were getting faster and harder to block. She got a slash across her left arm and another on her right calf.

Tenten knew he was holding back but if they were fighting for real, she knew she would be lying at the bottom of the water, dead.

This thought spooked her, long enough for Naruto to push her blade aside with his and punch her in the face with his left fist. Even if it was the weaker of the two, his left punch sent her flying back and crashing into one of the ice spikes. Not checking to make sure she was knocked out, Naruto made a hand sign and made a Shadow clone appear.

"Help Sasuke!" Naruto ordered, receiving a nod from the clone. He then headed for Hinata and Neji. The clone turned to Sasuke and Lee and sighed. He ran towards him just as Lee kicked Sasuke in the gut and sent him rolling back.

Hinata ducked under Neji's open palm to the face and sent one of her own to his chest but he jumped back before she could touch him. They stared at each other as Hinata started to pant. She was already tired to begin with but thanks to the pill, she felt refreshed. Still, she was no match for her cousin. He was too experienced in the Gentle Fist and made her seem like a novice.

She was glad to see Naruto move behind Neji, ready to fight against the arrogant Hyūga.

"Not even that weakling will help you against me." Neji said as he turned and threw a kunai at Naruto who used the substitution jutsu to replace himself with a log. He appeared beside Hinata as he glared at Neji.

"I might be a weakling but with Hinata-chan fighting with me, we'll be more than enough to kick your ass." Naruto declared with a smirk and Neji scowled.

"Your destiny has already been decided. I will win as per destiny's wishes; you have no say in the matter." Neji lectured and Naruto chuckled.

"I guess we'll see." Naruto said but did not wait for a reply as he ran towards Neji and made a modified ram sign. Three more Naruto's appeared and jumped while one remained on top of the water. Neji smirked as he met Naruto down the middle and slammed his palm into the grounded Naruto's chest, making him disappear in a puff of smoke. Neji spun on his heels as the three Narutos almost hit him with an ax-kick and ax-punch.

Neji struck each Naruto with a chakra powered kick or palm and caused them to disperse. He used his Byakugan to search for his opponents beyond the smoke and found them heading towards Lee, Sasuke and a second Naruto. He ran after them but stopped and jumped left just as a Naruto clone popped out of the water and almost hit him with an uppercut. They stared at each other, waiting for the other to make a move.

Lee struck Naruto in the face with a right punch and kicked Hinata in the stomach. They were sent back, getting the wind knocked out of them. Sasuke saw an opening and appeared behind Lee. He applied a headlock to Lee and started to choke him out. Lee struggled against his hold but found his vision beginning to blur.

"Dobe!" Naruto ran towards Lee and coiled his right fist back. Naruto was going to put his all into the hit, hopefully knocking Lee out. He wasn't able to find out, though, as his clone came crashing through the water and hitting him. The momentum caused Naruto to slide to the side and fall into the water. Sasuke looked to the left and saw Neji over him with a smirk.

He jumped off Lee and moved his left arm over his chest just as Neji thrust a right palm to his sternum. Sasuke felt his arm go numb and he tensed. Neji followed it up with a kick to the stomach and a backhand to the face. Sasuke spun as he flew back and hit the icy ground. Neji moved closer to Lee as he saw Hinata take out some kunai. She gasped when she felt cold chains wrap around her ankles. She looked down and saw black chains tighten and yelled in surprise when she was pulled off her feet.

Tenten spun as she held onto the chain. She stopped spinning and moved her arms lower. Hinata saw that she was getting lower and her eyes widened when the chain got caught by an ice pillar. It spun around it until Hinata hit the ice with a devastating thud. Ice and smoke was sent in the air and Team 9 surveyed their surroundings. Sasuke was lying motionless and Hinata was chained to the ice pillar, probably unconscious. All they were missing was Naruto.

Just then, about a hundred of Naruto clones jumped out of the water and surrounded team 9. The team started to waste the clones with easy and when the last was disposed of, another hundred appeared.

Off on the side, Naruto untied Hinata and lightly slapped her face. She scrunched her eyes before opening them and seeing a blurry Naruto and Sasuke.

"You ok, Hinata-chan?" Naruto asked and she nodded as she held her head. The hit Hinata took caused a hole to appear on the side of the pillar. She noticed that she was propped against the wall and Naruto was scratching his head.

"Damn." Sasuke cursed as he rubbed the back of his neck with his right hand while his left hung motionless. "Shikamaru wasn't kidding."

"We need a plan." Naruto said after a sigh as Hinata began to reopen the chakra points in Sasuke's left arm. "If we're not careful, we might actually need to stay in the hospital for a week and you guys know how much I hate going to the hospital." Naruto added and the two nodded. Naruto stared at his two teammates and blinked when he saw something shining under Hinata's sleeve. He grabbed her left hand and raised it. A small, gold pendant in the shape of a cross appeared tied to her wrist by a small gold chain. Hinata recovered her hand with a blush and looked away.

"..." Naruto opened his mouth but then recovered his 200th clone's memories. He had one last batch of clones lying under the water to release and began to panic.

"We only got another thirty seconds before they start looking for us again." Naruto informed them and growled. "Anyone? Anything?" he asked and Sasuke nodded.

"We need to get rid of them one by one." Sasuke started. "Tenten will be easier to get first but then there's Lee and Neji."

"Nii-san a-also has the Byakugan so i-it'll be hard to catch him off guard." Hinata said and clenched her fist.

"So Tenten first, then Neji and finally Lee?" Naruto asked and they stared at each other. "For now, that's the best we can come up with."

"You guys handle T-Tenten. I'll cover you." Hinata said and Naruto and Sasuke looked at her oddly, causing her to blush a little. "D-Don't worry, I can do it." She insisted and Naruto nodded after some hesitation.

"Alright guys, time to end this." Naruto said as he stood. Sasuke stood next to him and Naruto whispered something in Sasuke's ear. Naruto smiled mischievously at his idea and Sasuke nodded his head.

Neji dispersed the last clone and looked around; only his team seemed to be present. With his Byakugan active, he saw Sasuke jumped into the air, way above them with a fūma shuriken in his right hand. He tossed it and it headed towards the three from the side. Tenten took out a bō staff, jumped and stuck the staff in the middle of the fūma shuriken. It stopped but her eyes widened when its shadow zoomed past her and popped out of the ground.

Lee jumped out of its way while Neji bent forward and swiftly grabbed the shuriken just as it was about to pass him. He smirked as he watched a scowl appear on Sasuke's face. However, Neji noticed that Sasuke's scowl didn't reach his eyes. He almost seemed glad he caught the two shuriken. His team was surprised when both shuriken poofed and from the smoke a smiling Naruto appeared.

Tenten was unprepared as Naruto punched her chin and sent her airborne. Lee was about to defend her when an arrow made of light struck the ground in front of him. He looked up from where the arrow came from and saw Hinata holding a bow made of a lavender chakra on top of the pillar Tenten tied her to.

Lee was then caught off guard when Sasuke punched him in the gut. He doubled over and received a harsh knee to the face. Sasuke jumped back and made some hand signs.

"**Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!**" He shouted as he spat out multiple fireballs and struck Lee. Lee cried out from the pain and when the fire died down, he saw that the fire was covering for the shuriken attached to ninja wire. The others that missed Lee wrapped around his legs and arms. Sasuke tightened the wire which caused Lee to fall.

Neji back flipped away from the Naruto clone and stopped just a few feet away from it. He noticed Tenten heading to the ground but was caught by Naruto who grabbed onto her legs and spun around. He let her go and she hit the ice with a loud thud. Neji returned his focus to the Naruto clone that was now using his sword. Neji turned left just as Naruto swung down. He kicked out his leg to Naruo's chest but was stopped by the pommel of the sword when Naruto shifted his hands to confront his foot.

Swinging down, the clone once again missed Neji but was unprepared for a harsh palm to his chest. He poofed out of existence and Neji turned his sights to Lee who was avoiding Sasuke's attacks even though he was tied up. He was about to run to him but jumped back just as an arrow struck the ground he was once on. He glared at Hinata as she stared emotionlessly at him.

Naruto picked Tenten up and made sure she was unconscious. He looked in a seemingly random direction and nodded his head. Haku appeared and took Tenten out of his hands. With Tenten out of the picture, Naruto knew he wouldn't have to worry about long-ranged attacks from team 9. Naruto sweat dropped when he noticed Sasuke having a hard time finishing a tied up Lee.

_'I gotta admit though, Bushy brow's pretty nimble.'_ He thought before noticing Neji head for Hinata. His anger appeared once more and he ran after him. He was faster than Neji and was over him with a jump. Taking out his sword, he swung down but Neji was quicker and blocked it with a kunai. He pushed Naruto back lightly and spun and kicked his sternum with a chakra powered foot. Naruto gasped as he felt the chakra rush through his system. He fell to his knees and tried to refill his lungs with air.

Seeing Naruto get a devastating hit, Hinata jumped down and aimed her arrow at Neji. Her eyes narrowed as she released the arrow. She wasn't surprised when Neji dodged the attack but she wasn't trying to hit him, she was trying to separate him from Naruto.

Landing next to her crush, Hinata stood defiantly in front of him, facing her older cousin.

"Get out of my way." Neji said as he glared at Hinata. "This baka has been a thorn in my side for too long." Neji said. Hinata showed no emotion as she fell into her fighting stance. Neji only sneered. "You've always been too caring, Hinata-sama." Neji said. Naruto growled as he stood. With his second wind, he was more controlled but his mind was racing.

"Naruto-kun." Naruto looked at the back of Hinata's head. "Go help Sasuke... I can take care of him for now." Hinata said without turning her head. Naruto looked at her a while longer before glaring at Neji. Nodding his head, Naruto went to help Sasuke who was avoiding Lee's advances after breaking free of the wires.

"Your only aid and you send him away." Neji's voice dripped with venom as the smile laced on his lips sickened Hinata. A smile should only be reserved for display of positive affection. Her mother taught her that, raised her to believe that and it irked her that Neji seemed to be tarnishing her mother's teachings. However, Hinata didn't utter a word; she just waited for Neji to act. "Not going to say anything?" He asked.

Silence was his only reply.

"Very well then." Neji dropped into the Gentle Fist stance and eyed Hinata carefully. _'Her breathing is calm, her expression stoic and she doesn't seem worried...'_ He thought with slight worry.

_'What happened to her?' _He thought, thinking back to all the spars he has with Hinata in the past.

Naruto appeared next to Sasuke who was panting. Lee stood in front of them, not nearly as winded as Sasuke.

"Hey, what's your name again?" Naruto asked seriously, gripping his sword tightly.

"My name is Rock Lee, Konoha's Beautiful Green Wild Beast." He declared with a thumbs up and a flashy smile. Naruto and Sasuke sweat dropped. Naruto recovered first and smiled excitedly.

"Well Lee, my name is Naruto Uzumaki and someday, I will be Hokage." Naruto said and Lee smiled again.

"Perhaps one day," His demeanor changed as he fell into his fighting stance. "But today, you are my youthful opponent." He said and Naruto chuckled. He sheathed away his sword and fell into his fighting stance.

"Yes, I am." Naruto said before running to Lee and sending his fist to Lee's face. Lee ducked and dropped to his arms and legs before spinning.

"**Leaf Whirlwind!**" Lee shouted as he kicked Naruto's feet from under him. Naruto fell but sprang to his feet as quickly as he fell. He parried off Lee's left punch and right uppercut and back flipped just as he sent a roundhouse kick to his head. Naruto heard Hinata gasped and his attention was momentarily called away from the fight. Lee took advantage of this as his leg swept out in a wide, graceful arc, connecting with Naruto's ankles, throwing him off balance. Without even realizing what exactly was happening, Naruto found himself flat on his back, sucking in deep breaths, wincing from the ice that dug painfully into his back. The subsequent tunnel vision that threatened to take away his sight cleared with just enough time to roll away from a kick to the ribs.

Naruto jumped to his feet, wary of Lee as he ran towards him once more. Lee ducked from Sasuke's kick and grabbed his front collar and held him still before driving his fist into his stomach. Lee turned his attention back to Naruto just as he was over him with his right fist cocked back. Lee grabbed his punch with his left hand and used his other hand to flip Naruto over, making him land on his back. Naruto groaned and with his only opened eye, saw Lee disappear. He reappeared under Sasuke who just recovered and sent an upward kick to his chin, sending him into the air.

Sasuke groaned from the kick but his eyes popped open when he felt Lee behind him. Using the bandages on his arms, Lee restrained Sasuke and grabbed him firmly. They began to fall head first into the ground at ferocious speeds. Sasuke tried to break out of the hold but found that Lee's strength seemed to have increased by five fold.

"**Primary Lotus!" **Lee sent Sasuke crashing into the icy ground, still and unconscious. Lee kneeled panting, a fatigued smile on his face. He froze when cold steel was pressed against his throat. He looked down and saw a giant black blade being pressed against his neck. His eyes followed up the blade and saw Naruto holding it with icy blue eyes.

"Give up." He said and Lee gulped, his skin scraped from touching the blade.

"I give up." Lee said as he stood. He took in a sigh and smiled. "I would not be able to continue either way. That move completely drained me." Naruto nodded before looking at Hinata's fight with Neji.

Hinata panted as she saw Neji glaring at her, feeling a bit winded himself. She smiled; she was giving her genius of a cousin a run for his money and she couldn't be happier. She must have really grown up since first joining team 7, since her last spar with Neji. However, she knew she wouldn't win. Neji still had more chakra than her and she knew she had a good portion left to try the jutsu Kakashi taught her during the Wave mission. She fingered the food pill in her right pocket. She was tempted to eat it to try the jutsu she learned from the Scroll of Sealing but it seemed risky.

Deciding to try the jutsu Kakashi taught her first, she made fast hand signs. Neji's eyes widened.

'_She knows ninjutsu?'_

"**Water Style: Water Fang Bullet!**" Hinata shouted and four tendrils appeared on all sides of Neji. Seeing this, Neji cursed as he began to spit out his chakra from his pores.

'_I was hoping to save this but…'_ Neji began to spin and created a barrier from his chakra, stopping the tendrils from touching him and diffusing them. He stopped and sneered at Hinata's disappointed expression. She ran towards him and leapt just as he tried to kick her feet. She raised her knee but Neji ducked and grabbed it with his hands. He turned and tossed her effortlessly as he came to a stop. Hinata flipped and landed on her feet before falling to her knees.

She panted as she fingered the food pill again. She knew Naruto was off to the side, waiting to save her or help her, which ever she needed. Hinata was glad to have him there but she wanted to do this for herself. She wanted to see just how much she grew since her last confrontation with her cousin. Taking out the food pill and swallowing it, Hinata felt her chakra reserves replenish and new found energy circulating through her.

She made a hand sign and two Hinata clones appeared. Neji smirked as the two sped down the gap between him and Hinata. He was too preoccupied with the two clones that he didn't notice Hinata making hand signs. Off in the trees, their classmates watched as Neji eliminated one clone with a palm to a chest and Hinata still continued with the hand signs. On the other side, Zabuza's eyes widened.

"This girl…"

"What is it, Zabuza-sama?" Haku asked but Zabuza just stared at Hinata.

"…you'll see." He answered cryptically.

With the last clone taken care of, Neji turned to Hinata who was on her last few hand signs. He ran to her, hoping to catch her just before she could finish. However, he was too late because on her last hand sign, water started to spin in front of her.

"**Water Style: Giant Vortex Jutsu!**" She yelled as the giant vortex of water blasted from its place and raced towards Neji. Neji's eyes widened but he recovered and started to spin.

"**Rotation!**" His rotating ball of chakra was engulfed by the vortex and after a while, it broke apart. Team 8 and 10 jumped out of the vortex's direction, narrowly missing being swallowed by it.

"Hey, watch it!" Ino shouted.

"Troublesome blond." Shikamaru said after cleaning out his ear.

Hinata felt her eyelids drooped and her breath shorten. That move had taken a lot out of her and even with the food pill, she felt the jutsu tax on her chakra system. She began to have tunnel vision and her body felt heavier than it usually did. She felt her body fall back but she couldn't find the energy to stop herself. She waited for the water to take her in and drop her all the way to the bottom.

She was surprised that instead of a cold, wet blanket cover her, she felt strong, warm arms hold her in place. She looked up and smiled at seeing Naruto's joyous face.

"That was amazing Hinata-chan." Naruto said and Hinata smiled tiredly. She closed her eyes and her smile faded. "Hinata-chan?" Naruto was about to yell but was stopped by a hand on his shoulder. He looked up and saw Zabuza staring at him.

"She's unconscious kid, don't panic." He said and grabbed Hinata. "Though maybe I should take her to the hospital." He said as he disappeared from Naruto's sight. He looked around and saw no sign of Neji anywhere.

"So… did my team win?" Naruto asked and everyone looked around, wondering that themselves.

"**Eight Trigrams Sixty-four Palms!**" Naruto's eyes widened as Neji struck his back with the first two palms. "Four palms… eight palms… sixteen palms." Neji shifted on his legs and faced Naruto. "Thirty-two palms…" He kicked Naruto's legs from under him and continued his assault on the airborne blond. "Sixty-four palms!" The last palm sent Naruto rolling over the water and landing on the ice platform.

"You truly are a fool. Even Hinata-sama had managed to hurt me more than you did." Neji said as he took slow steps to Naruto. He remained motionless and his breathing seemed to have stopped completely. "To think that you could actually beat me is ludicrous. I was destined to win from the moment you met me in battle. Face it, dobe, you lose." Neji taunted as he stood over Naruto. He noticed Naruto weakly grab his sword and jumped back when he made a swift arc upward. Neji sneered as Naruto rose to his feet and wobbled a bit.

"Don't look down on me." Naruto said quietly, his head hung forward. "All my life, people have been undermining me because of what I am. Because of my background." Naruto raised his head as he glared at Neji. "But they never got to know the real me." Naruto pointed the tip of his blade at Neji with arctic cerulean eyes.

"You're no different." Without another word, Naruto zipped up to Neji and slashed his chest. Neji had barely jumped back in time to avoid the strike and saw his jacket have a long cut across the front. He recovered his footing and sent a palm forward. Naruto turned to the side, side stepping the strike and sending his right elbow crashing into Neji's face. He took steps back as he winced from the pain but was able to take out a kunai and hold back Naruto's vertical strike.

"You're not better than me." Naruto mumbled as he began to overpower Neji. "I'm gunna win th-" He was cut short as he coughed up blood. He looked down and saw Neji's free hand over his chest.

"Foolish. Arrogance destroys the footholds of victory." Neji said as Naruto leaned his head forward, his eyes blank. Neji smirked as he leaned his head forward, his mouth near Naruto's ear. "It's over." He whispered as he reared his head back. His smirked widened when Naruto bent his head backwards. What he wasn't expecting was Naruto to smile and laugh insanely.

"What's so funny?" Neji asked. His answer came in the form of Naruto slamming his forehead harshly against Neji's. Neji's head and vision shook from the impact and his world darkened a bit before being completely covered in darkness. Neji fell on his back, unconscious and defeated.

Naruto fell to his knees with a weary smile as he held himself from falling.

"I… I did i-it." He said before his smile disappeared and he fell, out cold.

**[*****.*.*.*********]**

The smell of medicine, gauze and just a hint of death battered Naruto's sense of smell as he slowly came to. He groaned as he slowly sat up and rubbed his eyes, trying to rub the sleep out of his eyes. When he finally opened his eyes, he was disappointed to see that he was sitting on a hospital bed in a hospital room… in the hospital.

"Gah, I hate this place." Naruto whined as he palmed his face.

"Shut up, dobe." Naruto blinked as he looked to his left and saw Sasuke staring at the ceiling.

"Teme? What are you doing here?" Naruto asked and Sasuke turned his head.

"That move Lee hit me with messed with my head." He tapped his head. "Gave me a concussion. Nothing serious, though." He added nonchalantly. Sasuke turned his gaze back to the ceiling as Naruto stared at his bandaged chest.

"Do you know what happened to me?" He asked and Sasuke shrugged his shoulders without moving his eyes.

"Internal bleeding, lungs collapsing or something like that. Something only you could sleep off." Sasuke said with a droll voice. Naruto chuckled and moved random parts of his body. He found all of them to be operational and in good condition. He then looked outside and saw that the sun was a few hours from setting.

"So, how long have I been unconscious?" Naruto asked and Sasuke shrugged again.

"Eight, nine hours. Give or take an hour." He said and after a while, he sat up and stretched his arms. "So, how do you feel?" He asked and Naruto smiled happily.

"Great. I feel like I could go another round." He stated with his eyes closed. He was surprised when he was hit in the face with a pillow thrown by Sasuke who stood up and went to the bathroom. "What?" Naruto whined as he followed Sasuke who grabbed the cup in the bathroom and filled it with water from the sink. He took in the entire contents and then refilled he cup.

"So who won?" Sasuke asked and Naruto smirked victoriously.

"Team 7 did." Sasuke smiled as he chugged down the water. With a content sigh, he placed the cup on top of the counter and moved to the nightstand beside his bed. He grabbed the fresh pair of clothes stacked next to the bed and walked back into the bathroom. Naruto saw that he had a pair of fresh clothes as well and quickly changed into them before Sasuke came out. Putting on the blue jacket, he grabbed his sword and tied it to his blue pants. Just as he did, Sasuke came out, wearing his trademark clothing and a smile on his lips.

"So what are you going to do with your 'wish'?" Naruto asked with a knowing smile.

"I'm gunna make Sakura and Ino promise me not to ask me out on another date." He said and Naruto laughed loudly.

"I knew it!" He snickered as Sasuke walked up to him and extended his hand out. Naruto blinked and stared at the hand.

"We… probably couldn't have won without you." Sasuke said with a bit of force. Naruto had a feeling it was hard for Sasuke to say that so he felt touched by the display. He gripped his hand and shook it.

"It was nothing." He replied before they let go and walked out of the room.

"What are you going to do with your 'wish'?" Sasuke asked and Naruto smirked as they stopped in front of a nurse who was busy writing something on a clipboard.

"You'll see. Uhm, miss," The nurse turned and smiled.

"Yes?" She asked politely.

"What room is Hinata Hyūga in?" Naruto asked and the women pointed to the room behind them. "Thanks." The nurses nodded happily before returning to work. Naruto opened the door and walked into the room with Sasuke. They blinked when they saw the rest of Konoha 12 inside the room with a blushing Hinata who was still in the hospital bed. All of them were around Hinata's bed except for Neji who was hanging out in the corner. Naruto tilted his head to the side when he saw Ino and Sakura giggle and heard them both say;

"We'll talk about it later." Everyone excluding Naruto and Sasuke stared at the two friends before Naruto smiled and put his hands behind his head.

"Hey guys." He greeted and some greeted him back with a lame 'hello' or just a wave. Well, except for Lee…

"Oh Naruto-kun, Sasuke-kun! Both of your youthfulness has shined brightly during our fierce, springtime combat!" Lee shouted happily as he hugged the two. Naruto and Sasuke stared at each other awkwardly until Lee released them and smiled.

"How convenient. Now that we're all here, let's hear what the winners want." Ino said as he eyed Sasuke flirtatiously. He just shook in disgust.

"Well, I-"

"Nah teme, I'll go first." Naruto said, interrupting Sasuke and he smirked deviously at Sasuke and then Sakura, sending a chill down their spine. "I want Sasuke to take Sakura out on a date." Everyone's jaws dropped as they stared at Naruto incredulously.

"WHAT?" Sasuke and Ino shouted angrily.

"WHAT?" Sakura yelled with joy. _'CHA! I love a happy ending!'_ Inner Sakura thought.

"And your taking her out… tonight." He said and Sasuke glared at Naruto with unadulterated anger.

"I'm loving this." Kiba said with a laugh.

"What about me?" Ino shouted and Naruto raised his left eyebrow.

"You got two teammates." He replied before noticing Sasuke looking at him with a devious smile of his own. He gulped loudly as he watched his eyes move to Hinata. Suddenly, Naruto's heart began to pound against his chest and he felt his breath shorten. Hinata felt the same when she saw Sasuke look at her and mouth the word 'sorry'.

"Speaking of teammates, we have one too, don't we?" Sasuke asked rhetorically and Naruto nodded, trying to hide his anxiety.

"So here's what I want; Hinata's gunna go out on a date as well… tonight." Both Naruto's and Hinata's eyes widened. "And here's the kicker; you're gunna take her out." Naruto and Hinata stared at each other before Hinata's eyes rolled to the back of her head and her head fell on the pillow.

After that, Konoha 12 – with the exception of Naruto and Hinata – witnessed one of the most historic events to happen in Konoha.

Naruto Uzumaki fainted…

* * *

**Hope ya like it...**

**Reviews would be appreciated...**

**Sorry it took me so long to update...**

**Life is troublesome...**

**Well, i know some are wondering where shippo is...**

**This time, I promise he'll be in the next chapter... in fact, he'll be the first I'll talk about in the chapter...**

**Got nothing left to say, till next time i suppose...**

**Next Chapter: Simple and Clean...**

**********Good luck with whatever and if you got a problem with me or one of my stories, please feel free to: Deal with it, Get over it or Choke on it...****  
**


	21. Simple and Clean

**Sorry i haven't updated this in a while...**

**High school was crazy..**

**WAS!**

**As in, i'm not in high school anymore!**

**More free time!**

**Thank the lord!**

**Well, let me get out of your hair and let you get started on the story...**

**Enjoy!**

**Chapter 21: Simple and Clean**

**I don't own Naruto**

* * *

Bits of sunlight shined through the gaps left by the door's edges as it pierced through the eyelids of a sleeping demon. His eyes scrunched together tightly before slowly opening. Glassy jade eyes looked around the room to see two coats hanging over him with four or five other clothe hangers as well. The demon tried to speak but soon found tape over his mouth.

He wanted to rip the tape off his mouth and burst through the door to look for the one responsible but unfortunately, his arms and legs were tied up at the moment. He mumbled incoherent words under the tape before struggling against his bonds.

After a few minutes of unsuccessful attempts, the demon relaxed and decided to try again after getting his second wind. As he did, he got lost in his thoughts, thinking of the perfect way to get revenge. He started to laugh as more ideas popped into his head until he started to choke on his spit.

The demon's ears perked up at hearing a door open and close a second later.

"What am I going to do?" A voice said and the demon recognized the voice. He started thrashing about and screaming under the tape, trying to get the voice's attention. Silence then came, and after a few moments, the first voice said, "What was that?"

"Nothing, ignore it," a second voice said, the demon recognizing that voice as well. It was the voice of the man who was responsible for his current predicament. "So what the hell is the problem?"

Naruto sighed as he sat on the couch. "I'm nervous!"

Inuyasha walked into the kitchen, looking for a quick bite to eat before returning to the living room with a sandwich.

"If you didn't make Sasuke go out on a date with what's-her-name,"

"Sakura," Naruto said and Inuyasha shrugged his shoulders as he took a bite from his sandwich.

"Whatever. If you hadn't done that, chances are you wouldn't be going on this date with Hinata," Inuyasha concluded. "So really, this is all your fault."

"Very helpfully," Naruto said sarcastically.

"What's the problem anyway? Do you not like Hinata?" At this question, Naruto blushed a little.

"She's a great person but…"

"But what?"

"I don't know!" Naruto yelled as he grabbed his hair and tugged on it. Inuyasha shook his head as he took another bite of his sandwich. Naruto once again heard something and it was starting to bug him. "What the hell is that?"

"Listen, you're being forced to go on a date with Hinata and you're here complaining about it to me? I get the feeling that you don't like her," Inuyasha said quickly, hoping to change the subject.

"I never said that!" Naruto argued, keeping himself from attacking Inuyasha.

"So why exactly did you come to me?" Inuyasha asked and Naruto opened his mouth but whatever his response would've been was interrupted but the closet door bursting open by green flames. Both Hanyō jumped to their feet in response and readied themselves to fight but were surprised to see Shippo glaring at Naruto. He pointed a finger at Naruto.

"You," Naruto blinked and looked around before pointing a finger at himself. "Yes you! You're hopeless!" Shippo jumped and slapped a leaf on top of Naruto's head. Naruto looked at the leaf for a second before he fell forward, his face slamming into the floor. He groaned and tried to pick himself off the floor but found that his forehead weighed more than the entire apartment.

"WHAT THE HELL? WHAT DID I DO TO YOU?" Naruto yelled as he unsuccessfully attempted to get up. Shippo turned to Inuyasha and his glare intensified.

"What?" Inuyasha asked and Shippo's face began to become red with rage.

"You tied me up and kept me in the closet for a week!" he yelled and Inuyasha scoffed.

"I fed you," Inuyasha said offhandedly, as if it made everything better. Shippo was now fuming with rage. He jumped and landed on top of Inuyasha's head and bit down on his ear. Inuyasha bellowed in pain as he stood and ran around, trying to remove the kitsune off his head.

"Get off!" Shippo shook his head, adding more pain to the already pain-filled hanyō. Inuyasha decided if the demon wasn't going to voluntarily get off him, he'd have to force him to. He slammed his head against the wall multiple times but Shippo seemed to avoid getting hit.

Bright stars became to come into Inuyasha's vision but he shook them off and ran straight for the door and threw his body through the door, head first. Just before he hit the door though, Shippo jumped off and watched Inuyasha shatter the door and land outside. Inuyasha's body twitched with pain and didn't move until Shippo attached his fangs back on his ears.

"GET OFF!" Inuyasha shouted as he ran in a random direction. Even in his current predicament, Naruto couldn't help but laugh, having seen the entire event.

"Stupid aniki," Naruto chuckled and heard footsteps just outside the room. He strained his head to look up and saw Kagome, blinking and scanning the splinters just outside his apartment. She then looked up and saw Naruto's forehead touching the floor.

"A little help?" Kagome smiled as she entered the apartment and examined Naruto closely. She saw the leaf on his forehead and easily plucked it off his forehead. Naruto rolled his head, feeling and hearing a satisfying pop from it and he sighed contently.

"Thanks," Kagome nodded and sat on the couch. Naruto remained on the floor but in the lotus position.

"Do I want to know about that?" Kagome asked and Naruto shook his head. "Ok then,"

"Hey nee-chan, you're a girl right?" Kagome leveled Naruto with a glare.

"What kind of question is that?" She demanded and Naruto sweat dropped.

"I-I didn't mean to offend you, I just need a girl's perspective on something," Kagome bit her lower lip but said nothing. "Will you help me?"

Kagome hesitated but soon enough, she nodded her head. "What's up?"

Naruto looked down at his feet, messing around with his toes. His tail swayed lazily behind him.

"…am I… What I mean is," Naruto paused as he decided to organize his thoughts and how they were going to be worded. "No, let me start over," Kagome waited patiently as Naruto took another moment to think.

"What do you do if… if you think you like someone but you're not completely sure?" The question threw Kagome threw a loop. This was not the kind of question she expected from the usually fun-loving, childish Naruto. Still, she had to laugh at the irony of it all.

"This doesn't have anything to do with our favorite raven-haired girl and a certain bet from a certain Uchiha boy, is it?" she asked and Naruto gulped and blushed.

"M-Maybe," Naruto answered with a slight pause. Kagome giggled and patted the space next to her. Naruto stood and sat beside Kagome. She placed her left arm over Naruto's shoulder and pulled him close. He leaned his head on her shoulder and sighed happily when she started to rub his ears.

"Love is a complicated emotion that no one can really understand," she began, "Over the years; thousands among thousands of people have tried to personify love through words, images and even music. They get close but none have ever accurately pinpointed love. But I'll give it a shot.

"Love is not breathlessness, it is not excitement, it is not the desire to mate every second of the day. It is not lying awake at night imagining that he or she is kissing every part of your body; don't blush," she scolded at seeing the already pink tint in his cheeks turn red. "I am telling you some truths. For that is just being in love; which any of us can convince ourselves we are. Love itself is what is left over, when being in love has burned away,"

Naruto hummed to himself as he closed his eyes. "So… how does that apply to me," Naruto asked.

Kagome struck a thinking pose. "Well, liking someone is a form a love, I guess."

"Ok but my problem isn't if I'm in love but how can I be sure if I like someone?" he asked and Kagome giggled.

"I'm sorry Naruto-kun but I'm not really sure what to tell you," Naruto looked down in disappointment.

Kagome giggled. "Think about my words, now and while on your date. You never know, they might help you with your problem," Naruto nodded and wrapped his arms around Kagome's waist in a hug.

"Thanks, nee-chan," Kagome hugged him back and placed a gentle kiss on his forehead. They parted and Naruto stood to stretch. "Well, I should probably get ready. Uhm, can I ask for one more thing?"

Kagome nodded again. "Can you help me get ready?"

"Sure Naruto-kun," she answered with a smile and Naruto responded in kind.

"Thanks," Unknown to either of them, Inuyasha stood near the doorway. He lost Shippo a while back but it wouldn't be long before he'd be found again. He let out a soundless sigh and ran off.

**[*.*.*.*]**

Hiashi walked around the Hyūga compound, looking left and right as he did. His brow furrowed as he couldn't find Hinata anywhere. After she got the clear from her doctor, Hinata returned how with Neji and went straight for her room. She mumbled something about going out but Hiashi had been intently focused on Hanabi as she practiced her forms.

Now, she was nowhere to be found.

"Neji," Hiashi called out as he saw the Hyūga boy pass. "Have you seen my eldest daughter?"

Neji remained stoic, even as his mind came up with a devious plan.

"No, Hyūga-sama but I do know that she has a date tonight," he answered with a bow, hiding his smirk.

"Date? What date?" Hiashi asked. Neji rose and explained everything that happened in the last forty-eight hours. Hiashi was thrown off by the events, though he refrained from showing it. Neji had told him of the fights, even though he was vague on his defeat. Hiashi didn't focus on that, though.

"I see," Hiashi stated at the end of the summary. "A date with who?"

"Naruto, Hyūga-sama," At this, Neji expected Hiashi to yell or something similar to that effect. However, he was disappointed when he saw his uncle leave. If Hiashi had been anyone else, Neji wouuld've chased him down and asked him why he didn't care but Hiashi had the means to forcefully silence Neji with pain so he decided against it.

Unknown to Neji, Hiashi hadn't entirely been paying attention to him, he was lost in his thoughts, thinking of what Neji had told about his team's fight with Hinata's team.

'_Bow and arrows… It couldn't be…'_

**[*.*.*.*]**

"Stupid dobe," Sasuke mumbled as he began to put on his date clothes. "Geez, I was trying to avoid dating a fangirl for a reason, but he had to mess it all up," he mumbled as he checked himself over, making sure that he didn't have any wrinkles.

He made sure his white shirt and black button shirt had no stains. His ruffled out the wrinkles in his black shorts and one last look at his white sneakers. No stains.

"I don't even know why I'm trying so hard. It's just a date with Sakura, it doesn't mean anything to me," he mumbled harshly under his breath but for some reason, he couldn't find the emotion to back up his words. That vile, unadulterated hatred he held for his fangirls just couldn't be found at the moment.

"Whatever," he was about to walk out of his home but stopped himself. He took a jutsu from Naruto's handbook and summoned a Shadow Clone. The clone stepped outside and began to walk off before disappearing around the next corner. He snuck a peek through his window and saw a bunch of shadows jumping around. As he expected, a platoon of fangirls were waiting for him.

He sighed and walked off, locking the new locks on his doors. Even though he'd never admit it, Naruto was really a good fangirl detector and knew his stuff about locks.

So far, no fangirls have been able to break into his home.

"Still, they probably heard about my forced date with Sakura. Hm, how annoying," He said to himself, before a thought hit him.

"If they heard about it, then Sakura might be in trouble," Sasuke clicked his teeth and began to run to Sakura's house. "Damn it, she might be one of them but no one deserves to fall to the fangirls' petty jealousy," Sasuke shivered as he tried to imagine what the girls would do to Sakura.

"Damn it Naruto! I'll get you back for this!"

Off in the distance, Naruto sneezed and wiped his nose with his sleeve.

"Don't do that!" Kagome scolded and Naruto chuckled sheepishly. "Sorry,"

"So when is your date with Hinata-chan?" Kagome asked as she gave Naruto one last examination. He wore a black shirt with the words 'Hokage in progress', courtesy of his number one shy fan, and blue jeans with his blue ninja sandals. Kagome debated whether or not he should dress a little fancier but Naruto assured her it was just a date to the movies.

Naruto looked at the clock. "In a half hour, but I think I should get there early," Kagome nodded, agreeing with that idea. He headed for the door but before he even reached for the doorknob, a flash of light shined before him. He turned and was assaulted with another flash of bright light.

"What the hell?" Naruto cursed as he rubbed his eyes. When his vision cleared, he saw Kagome smiling widely with a camera in her hands.

"It's your first date, I couldn't resist," she justified and Naruto sighed and left the room before Kagome could stop him for more pictures. He closed the door to the apartment behind him and relaxed for a second before walking down the steps. When he reached the sidewalk, he walked for a few minutes, taking his time to arrive to Hinata's home.

"Hey," Naruto looked around until he spotted Inuyasha sitting on a white fence. "Going to pick up your girlfriend?" he teased. Naruto growled at his taunting.

"She's not my girlfriend, I'm only going on this date because of the teme," Naruto retorted.

"So you don't want to go out on this date?"

"I didn't say that," Naruto admitted with a slight blush. Inuyasha jumped down from his place with a laugh.

"Man, it's really weird seeing you with a blush," Naruto growled at him but Inuyasha ignored it before getting serious. "What Kagome said earlier, about the love thing, she's right ya know? Well, as right as a stupid girl like her can be,"

"You agree with her? That's not like you," Naruto said and Inuyasha nodded.

"I know. Tell anyone and you're dead," Naruto chuckled and nodded. "Have fun and most importantly, don't be afraid to tell her how you feel," Inuyasha advised and Naruto blinked. He then looked down, depression written all over his face.

"I don't even know how to put it into words; and even if I did, how do I know she won't reject me or make fun of me?" Naruto asked.

"Are you kidding? How long have you known Hinata?" Inuyasha asked and Naruto remained quiet for a few seconds.

"About a year or so,"

"Right, so does she seem like that kind of person?" Inuyasha questioned and Naruto shook his head without hesitation. "All right then."

"But what if-?"

"Just shut up and go," Inuyasha interrupted. "Look Naruto, you're like me; if you over think a situation, then you'll start to panic and bail out at the last second," Naruto stared into Inuyasha's eyes and nodded dumbly.

"Go, before you're late," Inuyasha said as he walked in the opposite direction.

"Wait," Naruto shouted, catching Inuyasha's attention. "Where's Shippo?" he asked. Inuyasha looked up as he became lost in his thoughts.

***.*.***

Shippo woke up to see that he was surrounded by trees. The leaves in the trees blocked his view of the sky but he knew it was starting to get late.

"Stupid Inuyasha, always being mean to me," Shippo grumbled as he rubbed his eyes. He heard a twig snap behind him. He twisted his body to see what was behind him and when he did, his eyes widened.

The giant centipede screeched as it made eye-contact with Shippo.

"INUYASHA!"

***.*.***

"Beats me, I lost him at the Forty-Fourth Training Ground," Inuyasha said as he walked away. Naruto looked at him incredulously before shaking his head and walking off as well.

He kept walking, losing himself to his thoughts of Hinata until he bumped into a group of six girls. He blinked when one of them pushed him away and kept walking. Even stranger was the fact that three of the girls were holding a big bag. Naruto kept watching them until they disappeared from his sight.

"That's… weird," Naruto said. "For a second there, I thought that bag smelled like Sakura," Before he could shrug his shoulders, he was knocked down to the ground by a black and white blur.

"Dammit, dobe!" Sasuke cursed as he stood, helping Naruto up as well. "You're always getting in the way,"

"What the hell's your problem, teme?"

"I'm looking for Sakura, you've seen her around?" Sasuke asked and Naruto frowned.

"You actually want to go on this date with her?" Naruto whined and clicked his teeth. "Damn it all!"

"Listen, I think my fangirls heard about this date you set up and took Sakura," Sasuke told him and Naruto looked at him skeptically.

"How do you know Sakura isn't home?" Naruto asked.

"I was just there, her mom said she left with a few friends to help her get ready," Sasuke answered as he slipped his hands into his pockets.

"Sounds solid to me," Naruto said with a shrug.

"It would be… if it wasn't for the fact that someone was tailing me the whole time since I left her house," Naruto blinked and looked around, his fox ears twitching at every angle. "I lost them a while back," Naruto's frown deepened.

"This is bad," Naruto's eyes widened as he realized that the girls holding the bad that smelled like Sakura actually had Sakura in the bad. "That's really bad. What do we do?"

"Well, I was going to run around the entire village but now that I found you, maybe you can summon thousands of clones to look for her," Sasuke said sarcastically but it passed over Naruto's head. He nodded and was about to summon his clones when Sasuke slapped his hands away.

"You idiot, you can use your nose to track her!" Sasuke scolded and Naruto blinked before slamming his palm to his forehead. He looked around before falling on all fours and began to sniff the ground. He walked in the direction the previous group of girls was heading.

Sasuke followed after Naruto, making sure not to lose the fox boy… but he followed him from about ten feet away. As helpful as Naruto was, Sasuke found it embarrassing being seen following a fox boy who was sniffing the ground like a mutt.

He kept following Naruto until he stopped a few feet away from an old shed behind a playground.

"The trail ends there," Naruto said and Sasuke eyed the building suspiciously.

"You sure?" Naruto nodded and the two hesitated to move. Fangirls were crazy, that fact has already been established. Who knew what craziness lay inside the walls of the shed?

"We have to go in," Sasuke stated and Naruto gulped. The two looked at each other and nodded. They walked up to the shed and before touching the door; Naruto stopped and sniffed the air and then the ground.

"What?" Sasuke asked and Naruto sniffed the ground one more time before growling.

"Hinata's in there, too," Naruto said, his fists clenching and unclenching in a repetitious motion.

"Easy there, we don't want to do anything-" before Sasuke could finish, Naruto burst through the door. He saw Hinata and Sakura lying on the floor. He ran to them and began to gently shake them. "Rash. Should've known better…"

"Hinata-chan, Sakura, wake up!" Sasuke warily walked into the house, activating his Sharingan to make sure the insane fangirls didn't set up any traps. When his eyes landed on the girls, his eyes narrowed.

"That's not them," Sasuke snarled and Naruto looked back at him and then at the girls.

"What do you mean? It looks like them, they even have their scents… but now that you mention it," Now that Naruto really took the time to examine the scent, he found something odd. True to his word, it was their scents, however, underneath it were the scents of two other unfamiliar people.

Naruto's eyes widened. _'It was a set up,'_ he thought, but it was too late for right as he thought that, the two exploded and two green plumes of smoke enveloped Naruto.

"Hold your breath!" Sasuke said as his left hand immediately shot into the smoke and he grabbed on to Naruto's collar. With a thrust, he was able to get both of them out before they got a whiff of the green gas… or so he thought.

Sasuke stood and checked his person to see if he was ok. Then he looked down at Naruto and was about to ask if he was ok, only to sweat drop at the sight of Naruto rolling around the ground, chuckling madly and childishly.

"Oops!" Naruto said as he covered his nose. "I smelled it," Naruto cheered as he tried to stand only to fall on his backside.

"Naruto, snap out of it," Sasuke said as he grabbed Naruto's collar, picked him up and gave him a light slap to the face.

"Stop!" Naruto growled as he pushed Sasuke but didn't put enough effort into it so he was only able to push himself back. He laughed as he hit the ground again.

"Hey, can you try finding their scents again?" Sasuke asked and Naruto continued to laugh but shook his head.

"It all smells the same!" he was barely able to talk as his laughter kept stopping him.

"Great," Sasuke moped while dragging Naruto by his collar as he headed to the only person who could help him now. He shivered as a mental image of him asking the certain person for help. But drastic times calls for drastic measures.

To find a fangirl, or in this case fan_girls_, you have to think like a fangirl…

**[*.*.*.*]**

Ino was originally going to hang out with her team since Naruto had ruined her plans of attempting to date Sasuke, but now her evening just got interesting.

"Well, well Sasuke-kun, to what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?" Ino asked, smiling like a madwoman.

"Hiya Ino!" Naruto greeted from behind the frowning Uchiha. Ino gave him a shallow smile and a wave before eying Sasuke as if he was wearing just the shorts.

"So?" she repeated and Sasuke sighed.

"I'm looking for Sakura," this immediately depressed Ino but Sasuke didn't let her voice her thoughts. "I was wondering if you know anything about fangirls abducting her," Sasuke said.

Ino blinked. "They kidnapped Sakura? Wow, that's messed up," Ino stated and Naruto and Sasuke nodded, one more enthusiastically then the other.

"So, do you know anything?" Sasuke asked again but Ino shook her head.

"Sorry, I didn't, but you can hang around me instead, Sasuke-kun," Ino suggested with a wink and Sasuke forced his expression to remain neutral. On the inside though, he wanted to run like there was no tomorrow.

"Ino," Sasuke paused as he tried to force his thoughts into words, ignoring Ino's suggestion. "I need your… help," he strained to say and Ino blinked. "What would you do if you were in their shoes?" he asked. Meanwhile, Naruto played with his tail, trying to bite it. He chased after it, yelling at it to stand still.

Ino blinked once more before she bit her bottom lip. Sasuke waited as patiently as he could as Ino stroke a lot of poses while she thought. Man, what was up with fangirls?

"They kidnapped her and then what?" Ino asked and Sasuke summarized what occurred what happened after he bumped into Naruto. "Wow, impressive," Ino said.

"This isn't the time to be impressed, Ino," Sasuke chided and Ino put her hands up in defense.

"I know, I know," She hummed as her mind processed all this information before she snapped her fingers. "This is just a guess but chances are they took Sakura and Hinata to the Academy; specifically in the Iruka's classroom closet." Sasuke eyed Ino suspiciously.

"How-?"

"I… might've helped plan this two years ago," Ino answered with a sweat drop. Sasuke just stared at her, emotionlessly. Even Naruto stopped chasing his fuzzy golden tail to look at Ino oddly. She frowned. "Don't judge me,"

"Too late," Naruto mumbled, covering it up with a chuckle.

"Thanks," Sasuke said before walking off. Naruto looked at Sasuke and began to follow him.

"Come back anytime, Sasuke-kun!" Ino shouted.

"Bye crazy lady!" Naruto answered in kind before the two disappeared. Ino frowned and continued to watch them before sighing and walking back into her house.

**[*.*.*.*]**

"Where's Nata-chan?" Naruto asked in a childish whine. "Heh, I said Nata-chan. Her name isn't Nata. It's Hinata. Oops," Naruto laughed and Sasuke was close to punching Naruto's lights out.

"Just shut up, we'll find your 'Nata-chan' eventually," Sasuke grumbled and Naruto laughed again.

"You just said it too!" Sasuke groaned as Naruto continued on and on about Hinata's name, eventually, he became quiet.

"You dead yet?" Sasuke asked but was somewhat disappointed when Naruto grumbled a _yes_. His eyebrow rose, he's never seen Naruto so quiet unless he was either thinking or depressed.

"I know I'm going to regret it but what's wrong?" he asked and Naruto took in a deep breath.

"It's Hinata-chan," Naruto answered. Sasuke looked at his teammate and saw that he was still affect by whatever was in the gas but instead of being silly, he was acting depressed.

"What about her?"

"She's only going on this date because she's being forced to," Naruto said.

"Aren't you doing the same?" Sasuke asked once more and Naruto glared at Sasuke before blinking.

"Oh crap, I am!" Naruto said in shock and Sasuke sweat dropped. "But, it's not like I don't wanna go!" Naruto assured.

"What makes you think she doesn't want to do this out of her own free will?" Sasuke continued the assault of question but Naruto didn't seem bothered.

"I don't, but who'd want to go out with me. Look at me!" Naruto's glare intensified. "Look at my fox ears, look at my tail! My eyes even look like a demon's!" Naruto was able to swallow his tears but Sasuke still heard his voice waver.

"I'm a freak! A half-demon freak. Humans don't accept me, not even demons would accept me! I'm rejected from both sides. Both sides!" Naruto lowered his voice and looked down. "Who'd want to be with a freak like me?"

Sasuke remained quiet and Naruto took his silence as him agreeing. What he wasn't expecting was Sasuke to grab his shoulders and drive his left knee into his gut. Naruto fell and held his stomach.

"Listen up dobe, and listen well," Sasuke grabbed Naruto by his collar and forced him up, bring Naruto's face just a few centimeter short from his own. His voice was low and in Naruto's gassed up mind, dangerous and impatient.

"I am an Uchiha, a natural-born warrior, yet you have beaten me just as I have you. As much as it pains me to admit, at the moment, you and I are equals," Sasuke growled. "A freak is not my equal… I am above them," Sasuke released Naruto and started to walk away.

Naruto watched him go before standing and chasing after him.

**[*.*.*.*]**

Hinata sighed as she once again found herself in the damsel-in-distress role. She should've known better when random girls wanted to help her prepare for her date. However, she wasn't the only one with her. Sakura sat next to her tied to a chair, just like Hinata.

It looked like they were in a closet in the academy, which meant there wasn't really that much space.

And it looked like Sakura was beginning to get claustrophobic.

"Relax Sakura, we'll be fine," Hinata assured her. "We just have to be patient,"

"How can you remain so calm?" Sakura asked, her breathing becoming more labored.

"I was taught to remain calm in these sorts of circumstances," Hinata answered calmly. "Besides, these are fangirls, they might be crazy but they wouldn't do anything too harmful,"

"Obviously, you've never been a fangirl," Sakura mumbled under her breath. Hinata heard her but pretended like she didn't. She sighed and relaxed her body more.

"Remain still," Hinata told Sakura as she closed her mind and concentrated her chakra to the bracelet in her right hand. The bracelet in her left wrist began to shine and within seconds, a lavender arrow materialized in Hinata's right hand. Sakura watched with wide eyes.

"That's… new," she commented and Hinata smiled.

"Yes, it is but I'm still weak from the tournament, I can't…" Hinata trailed off as she winced, causing the arrow to flicker in and out of existence until Hinata was able to find enough chakra to keep it going. "I can't keep it for long,"

Before she could completely lose her concentration, she was able to cut the rope that kept Sakura's wrist tied. Sakura massaged her wrists one at a time before untying Hinata's.

"We gotta get out of here," Sakura said and was about to open the door when Hinata stopped her. "What?"

"Be patient, sit with me," Hinata said and Sakura blinked but obliged. "I need to ask you something Sakura,"

"What is it?" The way Hinata spoke made Sakura feel a bit uneasy.

"Why do you chase after Sasuke?" The question seemed innocent enough but Sakura still hesitated to answer.

"Because I love Sasuke-kun," Sakura answered confidently, yet still hesitantly.

"How do you know?" Hinata asked and Sakura blinked.

"How do I know?" Sakura repeated and Hinata nodded. "I…" Sakura stopped, unsure of what to say.

"What is it about Sasuke that makes you love him?" Sakura couldn't meet Hinata's eyes. She didn't have the answer, any answer actually.

"Do you know anything about him?" Hinata asked, still getting no reply from Sakura. "Did you know he hates sweets and nattō? That the only other thing he likes to do besides training is taking walks?"

Sakura felt her jealous rise. "How would you know all of that?"

"Because I've spent time with him," Hinata answered. "I treat him like a normal person. Do you want to know why? Because that's all he is,"

Sakura gasped as Hinata's voice had a biting tone to it. "I took the time to get to know him as well. You'll be surprised how easy-going he is when you're not drooling over him,"

"Easy for you to say, you're too busy drooling over Naruto," Sakura retorted. Hinata only smiled.

"Maybe, but he'd never notice me," she said under her breath.

"Why do you say that?" Sakura asked and Hinata shook her head.

"What I'm trying to say Sakura is that maybe you should get to know Sasuke before you go declaring your love for him. Otherwise, you're no better than the fangirls that did this to us," Hinata informed her sagely and patiently.

"…" Sakura wanted to say something, anything, but no words ever came from her mouth. She looked down at her feet and remained silent until a question popped in her head.

"How long do we have to wait?" she asked.

"Only a little longer, I'm activating my Byakugan once in a while to take a look outside. I'm waiting for a good distraction," she answered and Sakura nodded. She just had to be patient.

…Easier said than done.

**[*.*.*.*]**

Eventually, the two reached the Academy and once again, they were wary of entering. As they learned from their last attempt, repeatedly reminded by Naruto's occasional chuckles, Sasuke activated his Sharingan to take in his surroundings.

"Clear on the outside," Sasuke said. Naruto nodded with a grin and burst through the Academy's doors.

"Where is Hinata-chan?" Naruto yelled and Sasuke groaned into his hands.

"Subtly is not your friend, Naruto," Sasuke said as he walked into the Academy. He walked past the many classrooms until he reached Iruka's classroom. He kicked the door open and saw three girls sitting on the desks, each facing the door.

"We've been expecting you, Sasuke-kun," One purred, the red-head.

"Yes, we have," the second said, this one had green hair. "Right ladies?"

The third, a girl with onyx hair and eyes, nodded and got off the table. "Where's your friend?" she asked. Sasuke blinked and looked behind him and saw no one there.

"Tch, damn it," he turned back to the fangirls and scowled. "Let them go, you've done enough this evening,"

"What do you mean? We've done nothing but sit here," the red-head said with mock-innocence. The other two nodded in agreement. Sasuke almost spat in disgust.

"Whatever," Sasuke said as he walked towards the closet on the other side of the room.

"Wait Sasuke-kun!" the green-haired girl stood in front of the door and smiled too sweetly. "Wouldn't you rather go to the movies with us?"

"I'll pass, now move or I'll move you," Sasuke said but the girl only purred.

"Is that a threat or a promise?" Sasuke rolled his eyes and stepped closer to the door. The black-haired girl panic and through reflexes, threw a small black pellet right in front of Sasuke, who covered his face before being completely enveloped by the green gas.

"What the hell?" the red-head chided but the black-haired girl shrugged her shoulders.

"I panicked!" she answered. The three waited patiently for the smoke to clear and when it did, they were surprised to see Naruto, not Sasuke, lying on the ground. The three stood over Naruto in a flash and growled.

"What the he-?" Before the green-haired girl could finish, Naruto's golden tail grasped her ankle and hung her upside down before slamming her into her two comrades. The three were sent flying back until they hit the desks, where they lost consciousness.

Naruto held his head but laughed.

"It was so hard not to laugh," he said, clearly exhausted but still able to smile.

"Don't move," Naruto froze as he felt cold steel pressed against his neck. He looked back and saw angry blue eyes staring at him. Still, the smile on his face never faltered.

"You know," Naruto said as he reached into his pocket, making the girl apply more pressure into his neck, cutting it slightly open. Naruto didn't flinch. He took out a small acorn and the girl raised an eyebrow. "This hurts like hell if it's thrown hard enough,"

Before she could ask what he was talking about, he flicked the acorn to the girl and it hit her squarely at the center of her forehead. Her eyes rolled to the back of her head and released Naruto. He sighed, before seeing another girl appear out of nowhere. He whined before falling on his butt and pouting.

"I'm tired of fighting," Naruto grumbled and the girl gave him a puzzled look. He turned his back, rejecting the girl and ignoring her. This upset the girl and she made a mad dash at Naruto with a medical needle in her right hand. She pulled it back before thrusting it forward but was caught by Sasuke just as the needle was about to hit Naruto in the neck.

"Sasuke-kun!" The girl gasped in surprised, she gasped again when Naruto's tail wrapped around both her legs and tripped her. She fell with a thud and was tied up before she could even blink.

"Stay," Naruto commanded as if speaking to a dog. "Good girl," she glared at Naruto but said nothing more. Sasuke smirked and then faced the closet with a serious demeanor. He walked up to it and opened it, only to see a small black ball roll up beside him. His eyes widened and before he could hold his breath, he was surrounded by the green gas.

Within seconds, he hit the floor like a sack of potatoes. Naruto looked at his friend and growled but he was suddenly hit with grogginess.

"I was wondering when you'd start feeling the gas's true effects." Naruto looked around and saw a blonde walk out of the closet. She had cold green eyes and her entire outfit consisted of black. She smirked at Naruto whose ears drooped as he yawned.

"What did you… what is this gas?" Naruto asked, a chuckle bubbling up in his throat.

"It's knock out gas," The girl hummed to herself for a second. "Well, it's my own special brand of knock out gas. It appears that in light doses, it's good to incapacitate nosey foxes too."

"Damn it," Naruto mumbled as he hit the floor and closed his eyes. He began to snore within the second and the last remaining girl shook her head. She looked at Sasuke with mad desire.

"You're mine now Sasuke-kun," she said but before she could even touch him, an arrow of lavender light zipped past her and hit the wall behind her. Her eyes were wide and she looked at the entrance of the door way to see Hinata panting heavily with Sakura beside her. Hinata had a matching lavender bow in her left hand but its light was slowly dimming down by the second.

"So you got free, huh?"

"It's over, Kiyomi," Hinata said though not as strongly as she would've wanted it.

"Not yet, it isn't," she said as she threw another pellet at the two. Sakura and Hinata immediately jumped out of the way but nothing came out of it.

'_It was a distraction,'_ Hinata and Sakura thought simultaneously. Just then, Hinata received a harsh punch to the face, sending her across the room and stop on top of Naruto. She winced as she felt her lower back ache.

'_I can't move,'_ she thought sadly. Sakura moved to punch Kiyomi but she was too slow as Kiyomi jumped back.

"You've always been the weakest out of everyone in our class," she mocked as he easily dodged another punch. "How you even passed amazes me," Sakura scowled and her punches doubled in speed. Kiyomi swore but still managed to maneuver around Sakura's assault. Hinata noticed that Sakura was making Kiyomi back up, near a tank across the room. When she saw that, Hinata began to summon up what little chakra she had left into her bracelet.

After a while, Sakura was beginning to tire and Kiyomi smirked.

"Looks like times up," Kyomi said and Sakura smirked.

"Sakura!" Hinata said loudly and Sakura jumped back just as she released her last arrow. Kiyomi moved out of its way, only to see that it wasn't aimed at her, but at the tank behind her. Her eyes widened before the arrow hit the tank and released the green gas into the air. Sakura reached Hinata's side and smiled.

"Nice job," Sakura complimented and Hinata nodded. "Come on, let's help get the boys out of here," Sakura picked up Sasuke and opened the window, climbing out with Sasuke on her back. Hinata was able to sit up but when she looked at Naruto, she saw only a puff a smoke.

"Hiya," Hinata gasped and looked behind her to see Naruto walking in, rubbing his eyes.

"Naruto-kun?" Naruto smiled.

"The one and only, babe," Hinata blushed and Naruto laughed. "Come on," He picked Hinata up bridal-style and her blush intensified. Naruto almost dropped her but after taking a moment to breath, his hold steadied. He jumped out the window and landed beside Sakura and Sasuke, who was just starting to wake up.

"Are you two ok?" Sasuke asked and Hinata nodded.

"A little tired but I'll be fine as long as I don't do anything strenuous," she answered.

"The gas is still affecting me," Naruto said with a smile. "But I'll be fine, too,"

"What do you mean?" Sakura asked, just narrowly beating Hinata who was one second away from asking.

"Well teme, can't say this was fun but we're going to leave… now. See ya," Naruto began to walk away ignoring Sakura's question.

"Wait, Naruto-kun!" Hinata began to protest but Naruto seemed to ignore her. "Oh my,"

Sasuke rubbed his neck as he leaned on Sakura for support. "Dobe,"

"You think he likes her?" Sakura asked and Sasuke shrugged his shoulders.

"Guess we'll see," Sasuke said before looking back at the classroom. "What about them?"

"Leave them alone," Sakura said. "They've been punished enough,"

"That's pretty mature," Sasuke said and Sakura looked at him, and then shrugged nonchalantly. Hinata's words rang in her head and Sakura thought twice about following it.

"You don't have to go on this date you know," Sakura said, trying to look indifferent. Sasuke stared at her.

"So if I went home right now, you'd be ok with it?" Sakura couldn't help but bite her bottom lip but managed to shake her head.

"You're probably tired anyway," Sasuke gauged her reaction and gently pushed himself off her. He stuffed his hands into his pocket and cleared his throat.

"All right, then," Sasuke said and started to walk off. Sakura watched him go and sighed sadly. That was the last time she'd listen to Hinata about anything.

"Are you coming?" Sasuke asked and Sakura looked up with wide eyes.

"M-me?" she wondered aloud and Sasuke nodded.

"It's not that late and we should be able to make it to that Princess Gale movie everyone's talking about," Sasuke started to walk again and Sakura ran after him with a smile. She stopped after she reached him, walking shoulder to shoulder. "Can you take a step to the left, you're kind of…"

Sakura blushed. "O-Oh, sure, sorry," Sasuke looked away and smirked as he noticed Sakura all flustered.

**[*.*.*.*]**

"I can walk on my own, Naruto-kun," Hinata told Naruto.

"You know what, Hinata-chan?" Naruto asked, seemingly ignoring Naruto as he continued to walk aimlessly. "You're lighter than I thought you'd be," Hinata blushed at Naruto's bluntness.

"U-Uhm, thanks," she said with a sweat dropped. Naruto, though, smiled idiotically.

"No problem," Hinata just remained in his arms, trying to guess where he was going to take her. It wasn't too late. The sun was close to setting and the moon still hadn't appeared.

After ten minutes, Naruto put Hinata down in front of a cave's entrance. She blinked at looked into it before looking at Naruto.

"What are we doing here?" Naruto only smiled goofily at her before grabbing her right hand with his and leading her into the cave. Hinata had spent the last year hanging out with Naruto, thus, her blushing and stuttering had reduced considerably. However, she was still working on overcoming them whenever Naruto established physical contact, especially when it was as intimate as hand holding.

If her blush could be converted into light, the entire cave would light up, making it easier to navigate through it. For now, Hinata would have to trust Naruto to get them through it without a problem.

"I-It's pretty dark in here," Hinata said, trying to start up a new conversation.

"I wouldn't know, I can't see," Hinata sweat dropped and Naruto laughed. "I'm just kidding, Hinata-chan. I know it is. But don't worry, I know this place like the back of my hand," Hinata nodded, even though she knew he couldn't see it.

"Trust me," Naruto said and tightened his hold on her hand. Hinata looked at where her hand would be and smiled softly

"Ok."

The rest of the walk was quiet, a comforting sort of silence between the two. A sense of peace overwhelmed the two and placed a smile on both. Finally, Hinata saw light at the end of the cave. She felt Naruto's speed increase and found herself running to keep up with him. Along the way, Hinata faintly heard the sound of falling water.

When they reached the end of the cave, Hinata was at a loss for words. The place was just incredibly beautiful.

The cave led to an oasis of water and of nature in general. Over them at the moment was a waterfall that partially covered the exit of the cave. It followed to a large pond where, while reflecting the moon's light, looked awe-inspiring and beautiful.

"You there, Nata?" Naruto asked with mirth in his voice. Hinata looked at him with wide eyes.

"N-Naruto-kun, how did you find this place?" she asked and Naruto chuckled with his wide smile.

"I just… found it," he answered and sat down near the edge of the pond. Hinata hesitated but instead of taking off her shoes, she just stood beside him, continuing to look at the beautiful pond surrounded but trees and an open clearing.

Naruto looked up at Hinata and took in her image with a silent gasp. She wore a plain light blue sundress with sleeves that fell just below her shoulders. The hem of the dress stopped just below her knees and she accompanied the entire outfit with blue sandals. Needless to say, Naruto couldn't help but stare, especially when the moonlight acted like a stage light and amplifying Hinata's beauty.

Naruto felt his breath hitch in his throat. Kagome's words kept repeating in his head and he put his right hand over his heart.

'_I don't think this is love,'_ he thought to himself before looking back at Hinata, his heart racing under his skin. _'But I know for sure I like her,'_

"This is a beautiful place," Hinata said, oblivious to Naruto's stare. "I'm glad you showed it to me,"

"Me… too," Naruto agreed breathlessly. He stood and stood close by Hinata's side. This caught her attention. She turned to ask him what was wrong but instead received his lips on hers. Her eyes widened and she pushed him back. She took in a deep breath and held a hand to her chest.

'_He… he kissed me,'_ she thought before looking at him. She saw that he had a sad look on his face. His ears drooped and his tail remained stock-still, something Hinata rarely sees, if at all.

"I-I'm sorry, Hinata-chan," Naruto said as tears began to accumulate around his eyes. "I-I… I got carried away. I just… really like you," Hinata blinked, gasping at the revelation.

"Y-Y-You… you like me?" Hinata asked, her own heart racing and she could feel her head getting light. Naruto blushed as he looked away, as if to think, before turning his eyes to her and nodding.

"You have… pretty eyes," Naruto said, feeling his eyes shifting to hers. "And you're so kind, not only to me, but to everyone," Naruto put his hands behind his back and played with the rock near him with his left foot.

"I like that," Naruto said and smiled at her. "I like people like you… no, I'll take that back," Without prior warning, Naruto enveloped Hianta in a hug. "I like you," he confessed. Hinata could only let out a couple of squeaky sounds as she took in everything that happened in such a short amount of time.

"And I love your scent," Naruto said as he secretly took into another breath of her scent. "It smells so… good!" he added and snuggled against her neck, causing her body to stiffen.

"N-N-Naruto-k-kun?" she stuttered and Naruto laughed.

"And you have a cute stutter when you get nervous," he stated between his laughter. He then pushed himself back and stared straight into her eyes, barely any personal space between them.

"You make me so happy Hinata-chan," his laugh was nowhere to be heard as he gazed into her eyes, serious as ever. "I've never had anyone make me feel that way you do, especially when I'm around you,"

"W-What are you trying to say Naruto-kun?" she asked, feeling a fainting spell come over her soon.

"I like you… a lot," he repeated, following it up with a kiss. This time, Hinata didn't fight back, she couldn't. She was still in shock at the feel of his lips. Naruto backed up and smiled dreamily.

"Naruto…kun," Hinata said with a soft smile on her lips. She faintly heard a thud and when she composed herself, she blinked when she saw Naruto on the ground. He had the biggest smile she'd ever seen on him and it made her smile widened as well. She sat down beside him, watching the pond with unrelenting joy.

That is, until a thought popped in her head.

'_What if this is the gas talking?'_ Hinata frowned and looked at the hanyō. She couldn't stop a smile from appearing on her lips again but her thoughts continued. _'What if it is?'_

"Naruto-kun," Hinata whispered, her words falling on deaf's ears. "I hope you're telling me the truth,"

"Hinata…chan…" Naruto mumbled and Hinata giggled.

'_I don't care if it's the gas right now,'_ Hinata lay down on Naruto, her head on his chest. Her left ear was pressed against his firm chest and Hinata heard his heart beating under it. She smiled and felt the rhythm of his heart lulling her to sleep. _'Right now, it just feels right,'_

Hinata felt herself lose her grip on consciousness and soon enough, she fell asleep, not noticing the silhouette sitting on a tree yards away.

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed it...**

**Sorry, it's still unedited but i'll come back to it soon...**

**See ya next time!**

******Good luck with whatever and if you got a problem with me or one of my stories, please feel free to: Deal with it, Get over it or Choke on it...**  



	22. The Theft?

**Hiya guys!**

**Wow, its been a while, it'll almost be a year in a couple of months O.O**

**Anyway, I hope you enjoy the chapter, since I worked pretty hard on it _[though i doubt it'll look like it]_**

**Before I go any further, I'd like to bring a point brought to me by Gravity The Wizard... There's not a lot of Naruhina stories being updated or created anymore... I remember when I'd get an updated chapter in my email every other day on a story I had story alerted a day ago... Now, I barely get anything... I'm not trying to single anyone out; in fact, I'm part of that group... I'm not trying to make an excuse but life is pretty troublesome right now and most likely, that's what's happening with the other Naruhina authors... **

**Still, We can't let the Naruhina hater_s, _or as I like to call them, the League of E.v.i.l _[Egregious Villains In Literature] _win... We have to get inspired and believe that Naruhina will be the pairing in canon Naruto... I believe so and I won't stop believing, not matter the outcome...**

**Speaking of canon Naruto... That's a really EPIC Kyubi form... Holy crap that's definitely gunna kick Teme's ass!**

**Anyway, enjoy the story!**

**_"Doesn't the fight for survival also justify swindle and theft? In self defence, anything goes."  
_~Imelda Marcos**

**Chapter 22: The Theft?  
**

**I don't own anything...**

* * *

The stock-still silence of an empty home never really sat well with Naruto. He remembered when he'd only sleep for a few hours because the awkward silence and feel of an empty home spooked him, even in his sleep. This was before he was adopted by Inuyasha, of course.

Now, Naruto woke up with a chill and a headache as he looked around. He was in Kagome's room, oddly enough, and he couldn't hear anything. It wasn't that he lost his superhuman hearing; there was just nothing to hear. He got up and his ears twitched, his tail wagged slowly behind him and his blue-iris, slitted-pupil eyes took in his environment. He was taught that whenever something didn't seem right, it probably wasn't.

With his senses on high alert, he slowly opened his door and saw that his brother was not sleeping on the couch, like he should've been. The cushions were in place and the blanket he used was neatly folded and placed to the left of the couch. Something was definitely wrong. He moved for the kitchen, but no one was there, either. Another chill ran up and down his spine; the house was just too quiet for his liking. He moved to head out the door but stopped short when he looked down and noticed that he was still wearing his pajamas. He was even wearing his sleeping hat.

He ran back into his room and changed into his usual attire – with the addition of his new sword – before bursting out of his home and down the stairs. Naruto continued to sprint down the street until he bumped into someone. He tripped over the person and fell face-first into the pavement.

"Ouch, that hurt," Naruto groaned as he pushed himself up and jumped to his feet. He turned to growl at the person he tripped over. "The hell is y-" he stopped as he identified the person as Shippo.

"Oh, it's just you," the blond said before turning to walk off. The young fox demon glared at the fox hanyō before running up to him and kicking him behind the head. The blond faced the demon and rubbed the back of his head. "Did... did you just kick me?" he asked incredulously; he thought someone just poked the back of his head.

"Yea, and there's more where that came from if you keep disrespecting me!" Shippo declared with malice. Unfortunately, Naruto ignored his threat and picked him up by the back of his collar.

"Have you seen Aniki?" Naruto asked with a deadpan expression and Shippo blinked.

"You just missed him, he just bought a ca-" Before he could even finish, Naruto felt an incredibly heavy weight land on his shoulders and make him kiss the pavement again.

The weight plucked the young demon from Naruto's hands and then it was suddenly gone. Naruto cursed as he looked up and saw a red blur dashing up and around the buildings before disappearing behind the last building on the block. The blue-eyed hanyō blinked before standing and growling, the scent was unmistakeable; that was his aniki!

With a predatory smile, Naruto was up and after him.

Meters away, the red blur smirked as he felt the blond hanyō follow behind him. With a hand over Shippo's mouth and another grabbing the pouch tied to his obi, the red blur just bid his time, waiting for the right moment.

It didn't take long for that right moment to present itself as ripped the pouch from his waist and jumped down to the sidewalk. He turned and flashed a smirk as Naruto jumped down in front of him. Before the blond could speak, Inuyasha let the pouch fall before taking off again. Naruto went to follow but just before he could take three steps, the pouch exploded and released a cover of smoke.

_'Nice try Aniki!'_ Naruto thought as he rushed past the smoke and continued forward...

Only to choke on his saliva as something grabbed hold of the collar of his jacket.

"Hello, Naruto," the lazy yet joyful voice said as Naruto's ears twitched. He turned his head and laid eyes on the gray-haired scarecrow that was his Jōnin-sensei. The masked man just eye-smiled at his charge's blunt glare. "I hope I didn't interrupt anything,"

"Well actually sensei, I-"

"Good, I'm glad I caught you at a good time. Come with me," Kakashi said before dragging Naruto in the opposite direction of Inuyasha. Naruto frowned as he crossed his arms over his chest, leting himself get dragged by the one-eyed pervert.

"What are you planning, aniki?" Naruto hummed to himself, his mind coming up with different scenarios on what his brother was doing. He wasn't sure how long or how far Kakashi had dragged him until they stopped and the elder man released him. He blinked as he fell back from nothing supporting his back and hit the soft grass. It didn't physically hurt but his pride was bruised when he saw the eyes of his comrades, Sasuke, Zabuza and Tenten, on his fallen form. He growled at Kakashi before jumping to his feet.

"What's going on here?" Naruto asked and waited for an answer from everyone. For a moment, everyone's eyes connected with each other, a mutual look was shared between them and Naruto felt annoyed that he was out of the loop. "Well?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Kakashi asked with his usual eye smile. "We're here to train," this immediately caught Naruto's attention and his tail wagged behind his back. His eyes light up like stars in the night and a smile cracked his negative demeanor.

"Really? What are we training? Our speed? Our strength? OH! Are we going to learn a new jutsu? And what is Tenten doing here?" Naruto asked his questions in one breath. Sasuke just sighed and called him a _dobe_ and Tenten smiled sheepishly with a sweat drop, his attitude reminding her of Lee's own. Kakashi and Zabuza shared a look once more before Kakashi turned his focus to his blond charge.

"In order; yes, your kenjutsu, no, no, no and she's here to help," he answered just as quickly as Naruto asked. The masked Jōnin placed an arm over Naruto's shoulder as he escorted him to huddle up with everyone else. "You see, Naruto, I would've left this training to your brother but since he's busy, I've decided to let these two start it," he said, as he motioned for Tenten and Zabuza. Naruto gave them a glance before poiting his curious orbs to his teacher.

"Ok, I'll buy it, but what are you going to do?" he asked and Kakashi chuckled before tapping his left eye from outside his forehead protector.

"I'll watch to help you guys perfect your forms," he replied before Naruto nodded and walked up to Sasuke, the two bumped knuckles before separating just as Zabuza's executioner blade came crashing down on the ground. Dirt flew up in the air and time seemed to slow down as Naruto saw Zabuza's eyes slowly turn to him and his lips curve upward from under his wrappings.

Skidding back from his leap, Naruto's right hand shot for the hilt of his blade and managed to unsheathe it before Zabuza's zanbatō came crashing down on him. The ground under Naruto began to crack as he noticed the deranged look in Zabuza's eyes. Naruto's blue eyes flashed red as he forced Mist's Demon back with his raw strength. Zabuza chuckled as he gripped his blade tightly.

"You're truly something else kid," Zabuza complimented but Naruto said nothing, holding his sword with both hands. "If I were you, I wouldn't hold back," he advised as he shot for him. Naruto braced his feet as Zabuza made short work of the gap between them. With his right hand, he swung his zanbatō horizontally as Naruto put most of his weight on his right leg, positioning his sword perpendicular to the ground and putting his left forearm against the back of the blade. When their blade's clashed, Naruto winced as he felt inhuman strength force him back. His feet skidded against the dirt as he was pushed back a few meters but his stance never wavered.

"Impressive," Zabuza commented as he lazily tossed Kubikiribōchō over his shoulder. Naruto just stared at him, before blinking and letting a smile grace his lips.

"I like your forehead protector," Naruto stated and Zabuza scoffed, though his smirk was still in place. "And your vest."

"It's not optional," he said and laughed, patting the Jōnin vest on his chest. "As for this, I'm surprised you only just noticed."

"You don't have much time to think when a giant man with an even bigger zanbatō comes running at you," he excused but Zabuza shrugged it off.

"Regardless, you're still a slow, short brat," Zabuza mocked, causing Naruto's smile to fade and his eyes to narrow. Kakashi sighed as he palmed his face; Zabuza never knew where the line was drawn. Well, even if he did, Kakashi highly doubted he'd cared. Turning his gaze to his other student, he noticed that the brown-haired girl was giving him a run for his money.

Her katana had a beautiful blade attached to its hilt, which had a dark purple gauze wrapped around it. Sasuke scoffed as he jumped back and released his left hand from the hilt to shake off the pain.

She really knew how to work a katana and make him look like a dobe. Worse than a dobe, since Naruto was doing a lot better with Zabuza then he was with Tenten. He deadpanned as he watched Naruto push Zabuza back once again as he put some distance between them.

"Heads up!" he heard a chirpy voice call out and he ducked as Tenten's blade passed harmlessly over his head. He jumped back and away from her kick. As he leapt back, his hands began to run through hand signs.

"Now, now," Kakashi said as he grabbed hold of Sasuke's hands. Sasuke blinked, not even seeing his sensei move so fast before. "This is kenjutsu training, no jutsu outside of kenjutsu allowed," Sasuke scowled as Kakashi released him and moved back to where he once stood. "Look out," he warned and once again, Sasuke jumped away just as Tenten appeared over him to seemingly decapitate him.

"You should never take your eyes off an opponent," Tenten advised as she continued to attack the Uchiha. Sasuke, blocked or parried every one of her advances but something felt off; she was holding back.

"Don't underestimate me!" Sasuke shouted out as he ducked under Tenten's strike and swung up to disarm her. Unfortunately, the weapons' mistress saw it coming so she spun and sent a kick straight for the Uchiha's chest after his attack left his chest wide open. He rolled back and jumped to his feet, his left hand moving to hold his chest as he tried to recover the air lost to his lungs from the kick.

"Don't let your anger control you," she countered. She and Kakashi noticed that he was still angry but were surprised when he took in a deep breath and stood. He gripped his sword with both hands, waiting for Tenten to make the first move. She found it odd that he kept his eyes closed but she was still happy to oblige. She ran up to the black-haired rookie and thrust it forward, planning to stop it just before it pierced his heart. She gasped when his eyes opened and instead of staring into his typically cold and calculating black eyes, she stared straight into the infamous Sharingan eyes.

At the last second, he sidestepped to the left and swung his katana lightly so it stopped short of cutting her throat. She froze, her body still from fear and shock. The cool frown on Sasuke's face curved upward as he chuckled to himself.

"Very good Sasuke, though, please refrain from hurting young Tenten; I promised Guy to return her the way I found her," Kakashi said nonchalantly and Sasuke scoffed before backing off. Tenten snapped out of her stupor and glowered at the Uchiha. She had let her guard down for a moment but it was enough for the Sharingan to catch. Tenten was adamant from letting that happen again; so she kicked it up a notch.

Unrolling a scroll, she placed some chakra into it and out popped a katana identical to the one on her left hand. She smirked as she saw the smirk on his lips wisp away.

"Here I go," she declared as she ran up to Sasuke and swung both katanas diagonally. Sasuke's right hand shot into his kunai pouch and out came a kunai. Holding Raiju with his right hand, he met Tenten down the middle and they began to battle for supremacy. Kakashi watched, his Sharingan eye on both of the teens, as they made their battle seem like a very elegant and complicated dance. Though one would sometimes have the advantage over the other, Kakashi could see that Tenten was going to win. It was a very small thing but by the way she caught her movements, he could tell eventually, she'd gain the upperhand.

Sasuke noticed this too, as he growled and doubled his efforts. Still, it did nothing but make Tenten's speed and strength increase. He felt himself rack his mind, trying to think of a way to win. He had to win, he had to progress in his power so he could beat Itachi.

He let out a loud battle cry as his chakra subconsciously traveled up the blade and electricity sparked around it. Kakashi's eye widened at this as he saw Sasuke swing down with all his force. Tenten, oblivious of what was happening, blocked the swing with both blades. She gasped as Raiju cut through her blades cleanly before it hit the ground and rocked their small area with an explosion of sparks and debris. They both flew back and landed hard against the grass. Sasuke used the momentum of the blast to roll to his feet. Tenten's back hit the ground hard and she rolled until she stopped on her side.

"Damn!" Sasuke cursed, before running towards her. Kakashi was by her side the second she stopped. He checked her pulse and was glad when she opened her eyes and stared into Kakashi's different colored eyes.

"Are you ok?" he asked and she nodded softly before turning onto her back to sit up. She grabbed her head and stayed put so she could compose herself. She heard Sasuke as he stopped in front of her. She looked up and saw that even though he had a calm look on his face, she could still see worry etch in his eyes. He didn't seem like the cold, indifferent Sasuke she heard rumors about; he was actually a bit more caring than that.

"You ok?" he asked and she nodded with a smile and grabbed his hand when he offered it to her. He hoisted her up to her feet and smirked confidently. "You have to admit, I kicked your ass," he said suddenly, making Tenten blink before she blushed and glared at him. Her eyes moved to her sliced katanas and she sighed; she worked really hard on those two.

"Shut up," she said as she brushed past him to collect her weapons. Sasuke sighed; even he knew that his attempt at a joke sucked.

"Here, I'll help," he said but before he could move to help, he was ran over by a rolling Naruto.

"Just give up, runt," Zabuza shouted with a chuckle to his voice. Naruto jumped to his feet and let out a fierce battle cry, leaving Sasuke on the floor, deadpanning at the sky.

"Stupid dobe."

**[*.*.*.*]**

"Is everything set up?" a soft voice asked from behind a closed door. A silhouette looked around the dark room, vaguely seeing the layout of the room; everything seemed to be in place. All that was left was to spring the trap on the rat.

"Yes, go get him," a female voice said inside the room. The one standing outside smirked as he disappeared. "Ok everyone, he'll be here soon," the voice said and the room was suddenly filled with muffled cries of laughter and giggles.

The silhouette found his target in a clearing not too far away, fighting a demon of a man. As his prey began to tire down, that was when he struck. Without warning, the silhouette jumped from his place and landed on poor Naruto's shoulders, driving him into the ground to eat dirt. He jumped off the blond hanyō and dashed away, leaving Kakashi, Zabuza, Tenten and Sasuke to blink in confusion. Naruto dug his face out of the ground and growled.

"Aniki!" Naruto cried out as spun and ran after the older hanyō, his sword ready to attack. He saw his brother dashing around the buildings and Naruto didn't hesitate to follow him. They continued like this for five minutes before Inuyasha ran up the steps to their apartment and disappeared down the hallway. Naruto smirked as he ran up the steps as well. What he wasn't expecting to see was a smiling Hinata with her eyes closed, her hands behind her back and her head tilted cutely to the left. He tried to stop but only ended up tripping over his feet and falling right in front of her.

"Hello Naruto-kun," she greeted happily and Naruto looked up at her with wide eyes. Where was her stutter? And was that confidence he heard in her voice? As he stood, he couldn't help but see the brimming happiness her smile held and he couldn't help smile as well.

"Hiya Hinata-chan!" Naruto greeted back and put both hands behind his head. His grin brightened her day as she giggled and swung her body lazily side to side.

"Close your eyes," she said without warning and Naruto blinked. His smile was replaced with a cautious frown as he shook his head.

"Sorry, no can do," Hinata blinked, confusion covering her face.

"Why not, Naruto-kun?" she asked.

"Aniki always told me to close my eyes before he'd punch me," he said and Hinata's smile returned.

"I won't punch you, Naruto-kun."

"That's what he used to say, too!" he said and Hinata rolled her eyes. She grabbed his hands, her soft petite fingers wrapping around his. He blushed, though not as badly as she did, but she wasn't about to back down now.

"Please?" she pleaded and Naruto sighed and closed his eyes. He let her lead him through the hallway until they stopped at what he guessed was his front door. He heard the doorknob turn and it slowly creaked open. His right eye slowly began to open.

"No peeking," Hinata chided and Naruto kept his eye closed, not wanting to upset Hinata. She led him into the room and he could smell the scent of his house, which usually consisted of his scent, Inuyasha's and Kagome's. Now, there were new scents in the room, but before he could identify them, the lights flashed on and the room was filled with yells of _Surprise!_

He opened his eyes and blinked as he stared into the faces of all his friends, each smiling at him. Kagome, Inuyasha, Shippo, Kakashi, Sasuke, Haku, old man Teuchi, Ayame, Iruka, Shikamaru and Chōji, even Lee and Tenten. Naruto stared in awe as he took in the room, that was decorated with banners saying _Happy Birthday_ and balloons of different colors. He looked at Hinata who was smiling like crazy.

"Happy birthday, Naruto-kun," she said before wrapping her arms around his neck and placed her head on his shoulder. Naruto's eyes sprung open like saucers before they closed and he returned Hinata's hug. He felt a hand clasp his right shoulder, making him break the hug and look behind him.

"Old man!" Naruto shouted with joy as Hiruzen smiled down at his surrogate grandson.

"Another year older, Naruto. Soon enough, you'll be just like me," he said. Naruto laughed sheepishly.

"Not something I want to hear, old man. No offense," he said and Hiruzen bellowed as he tightened his grip on Naruto's shoulder before walking into the home with the two young teens. The group then proceeded to congratulate the hanyō for another year of life and party the rest of the day away. Naruto laughed with his friends as they talked about past missions and hilarious things that occurred since they graduated from the academy. The adults just chatted between themselves about their relationship with the birthday boy.

Soon enough, Hinata summoned up all her courage and grabbed Naruto's hand. He was in mid-sentence so she had surprised him as she pulled him away. She lead him to the outside corridor and blushed when all that could be heard was the muffled music from the party and the sounds of chirping crickets. Night had fallen sometime ago and Naruto could see shadows cast down by the moon's light.

"So, why did you bring me out here?" he asked her, trying to subdue the pestering butterflies in his stomach. She kept looking at the ground, occasionally looking up into his bright blue eyes. She could stare into his eyes for a whole day and she'd never want to look away.

"I wanted to tell you..." she drifted off as she felt her courage begin to waver. Naruto blinked.

"Tell me what?" he asked curiously. Hinata began to breathe heavily, her hands reaching up to cover her heart. She felt like her heart was about to jump out of her chest and her stomach fill up with more butterflies which were beginning to feel more like bees. What if it really was the gas talking the night before? What if he didn't feel like that and was only trying to be nice?

"Are you ok?" Her fearful lavender eyes looked up for one final time as they locked with his azure orbs. They held concern and care, so much so that Hinata let out a silent gasp. His eyes scanned her entirely, trying to determine the source of her discomfort. Her eyes moved lower, to his lips. They felt so clumsy last night, but Hinata would be lying if she said it didn't feel right. They were of innocence and care, if a little cautious and reserved. She knew she was probably the same but that didn't change the fact that what the two shared the night before was special. He took her first kiss, but she didn't mind, she would've given it to him regardless if she had a choice.

Suddenly, she craved to feel his lips on hers again, to feel the fireworks burst from the Earth and light the night sky. Before she knew it, she wrapped her hands behind his head and kissed him. Naruto's eyes widened as he felt her soft, luscious lips gently tickle the top of his. It was just like the dream he had last night. The dream where he went looking for Sakura and Hinata with Sasuke, where he took Hinata and led her to the secret place he had found. He let his body take over as he closed his eyes and his hands hesitantly grabbed her waist, bring her closer.

Before long, the kiss ended and Hinata took a step back. Naruto smiled when he saw the red tint appear on her cheeks; he was glad she grew past the stuttering but he'd never get tired of that cute blush. They looked at each other before looking away, a smile cracking their lips. The door behind them opened and they blinked as they saw their sensei eye smiling at them.

"We're about to cut the cake, and it's usually the birthday boy's job to do that," Kakashi said and Naruto nodded before looking at Hinata, holding his hand out for her to grab. She blushed a darker shade of red but took his hand and they walked into his home to eat some cake.

**[*.*.*.*]**

It was a cold night in the Village Hidden in the Leaf as Naruto's group partied. Off in the distance, where the past Hokages were buried, the guarding ANBU continued their duties with their vigilant eyes that hid behind their animalistic masks. Something was wrong, they could feel it in the pit of their stomach. Still, the night was quiet and nothing had happen so far; the night had started just like any other night. However, they knew it was naïve to think that no one would want to steal the genetics of the past Hokages. One with the ability to control the wood element, one with the power to control water and the last who possesses the ultimate jutsu, depending on who was asked.

A squad of ANBU appeared in front of one wearing a raccoon mask, each facing their comrade.

"What is it?" Cat asked as Raccoon had his mask facing the far end of the forest. He said nothing, prompting his comrades to look in the direction he was facing. When they did, they were surprised to see something slowly moving towards them. Then, the thudding sounds of stomping could be heard and they identified the masses as soldiers. Still, they didn't look right.

"Dog, Cat, go check it out," Raccoon ordered and the two ANBU nodded before jumping down from their place. The Hokage burial ground was a S-rank secret, no one who wasn't supposed to know knew about it. Only the current Hokage and his advisers knew about the disclosed location and they would never tell a soul.

"Raccoon, we need a little help here," he heard Cat yell. Raccoon looked at Bird and Boar.

"Boar, stay put. Come on, Bird," Raccoon demanded before nodding and sprinting to Cat. When they arrived, they were greeted with the sight of clay soldiers attack their ANBU brother and sister. Without hesitation, Raccoon flashed through hand signs and touched the ground under him. In less than a second, the ground under the soldiers turned into a swamp, successfully trapping them. Or so they thought...

Soldiers from the back began to climb the soldier in front of them and use the trapped soldiers as a platform to cross the swamp. Cat cursed as she smashed the soldier's face in. The thing wavered before its face was rebuilt and grabbed its spear to attack.

"**Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!**" Dog called out as he spat a fireball to burn the soldiers to ashes. The attack caused an explosion to rock the formation and shatter the soldier to small pieces. This time, they didn't rebuilt themselves, though they were quickly replaced with more soldiers who managed to walk through the muck.

"This calls for some heavy-duty jutsu," stated Bird, making Raccoon nod.

"You know what to do," Raccoon said, prompting everyone to nodded as they each ran through hand signs.

"**Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!/Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!/Wind Style: Air Bullet!/Earth Style: Earth Dragon!**" The four shouted simultaneously as the four elements clashed with each other in the center of the lard army of clay soldiers before an explosion engulfed everything within a quarter mile. When the explosion ended, only four large Earth coffins could be seen before opening. The four ANBU looked around, seeing the destruction their attack caused. Still, no soldier was left standing and the entire portion of the forest was leveled. Raccoon turned to look at Dog and nodded at him, thanking him.

"That was... odd," Cat commented. No one said anything, nothing was needed to be said. They went to return to their post when they noticed that three coffins lay near the site of their burial and no Boar. The four raced towards them and when they took a look, they each gasped. Raccoon shook with rage as he turned to Cat.

"Get the Hokage... NOW!" he ordered and Cat nodded before vanishing. "Bird, back to HQ and inform Crow what has occurred here. Dog, you're with me, the 'grave robbers' couldn't have gotten far," Raccoon said before he and Dog ran off.

"What about Boar?" Bird called out and Raccoon stopped in his tracks.

"I don't know, but we're going to find out," he answered before focusing on the task at hand. It didn't take long for the Hokage and Cat to return and Hiruzen's eyes opened slightly at the sight. Just before he could ask any questions, Dog and Raccoon had returned.

"Lord Hokage," Dog and Raccoon said simultaneously.

"Report," Hiruzen demanded harshly. Raccoon and Dog stood and Raccoon stepped up to the Third Hokage.

"We saw a small army of soldiers matching towards us and Cat and Dog went to investigate. When it proved too much for them to handle alone, we moved into Alpha Formation Y and obliterated them. When we returned, Boar was gone and..." Raccoon looked away. "We found his corpse outside of the village," he then paused to look at the coffins. "It's the oddest thing; why would someone just dig up the past Hokages... only to leave them there," Raccoon ended. Hiruzen took another look at the decayed cadavers, seeing nothing wrong with them. They weren't moved much, no tiny hole in their skin indicated the extraction of DNA, nothing. It was the oddest thing and left Hiruzen to conclude only one thing.

"They did this to send a message," Cat said, beating Hiruzen who nodded.

"But what?" Dog asked. Hiruzen turned to him and gave him a grave look.

"To show us that they could do this," Hiruzen informed him. He faced the three ANBU with a stoic expression. "Get someone to bury these three heroes first, and then, I want you to go back to ANBU HQ and tell Crow to send out trackers to find the sick bastard who did this. Whether they stole something or not, we will not let them get away with defiling the past Hokages' graves. Go!" Hiruzen ordered and the three nodded before disappearing. Hiruzen sighed as he rubbed his temples. His night was going so well, too. Why did this have to ruin his night?

He looked at the past Hokages and hung his head in shame. Seemed that everything in Konoha has gone to hell ever since he retook his place as Third Hokage.

* * *

**Sorry if it doesn't seem like much but I kinda needed to write this to continue the story...**

**Sigh, it's pretty troublesome but now I can go on without my writer's block... Still, now that I'm not limited by my writer's block, now I have too much options to choose from... So, I need a little help...**

**What should happen next?**

**Inevitably, there will be a small time skip, maybe a month or two, but then what?**

**Should I:**

**1) Start the Chunin Exams arc?**

**2) Send them on a mission to meet another one of the Inuyasha crew?**

**If 2, then who? And what type a mission?**

**A) Bodyguard mission?**

**B) Bandit raid?**

**C) Escort _[Which doesn't necessarily mean a bodyguard mission]_?**

**D)A treasure hunt?  
_[I don't know, that just kind of popped into my head -.-]_**

**So that's it, all my options... Please, let me know what you think should happen... Not that I can't make my own choices but it's nice to hear from you guys and besides, sometimes, you guys inspire me with ideas that are even better than my own so don't be afraid to throw your ideas out there...**

**Thanks so much to those who haven't given up on me, I appreciate it...**

**Till next time!**

**Good luck with whatever!**


	23. A New Adventure Awaits!

To say that it'd been one hell of a week for Team 7, would be the equivalent of stating that Sun was sort of bright.

"Gah!" Naruto groaned as he flopped down on the couch and rested his eyes for a moment. He didn't care that he was covered from head to toe in sweat, nor did it matter to him that he practically brought all the dirt from outside in with him. The couch felt soft, the room was free of the Sun's abusive heat and the window was open so a cool breeze would ventilate the room every so often. It was funny how he easily he took all these simple things for granted. The soft texture of the pillow on his cheek made Naruto appreciate other small things; like how he didn't have to train to sleep.

Eventually, the world around him began to get blurry and delightful, blissful sleep was just another moment away from his reach. Dreams of ramen and mountains made entirely of Jutsu scrolls, look out, Naruto was just around the corner.

"Naruto!" sadly, he wasn't going anywhere, it seemed. His right eye snapped open and he saw Kagome glaring at him. He shut his eye and moaned as he sat up, rubbing his eyes as he did. "Don't do that! Your hands are filthy!"

"Nee-chan, please don't yell. I'm tired!" Naruto complained as he stared at Kagome with a sleepy expression. She took in a deep breath, taking in his appearance.

"At the very least, take a shower first, Naruto," she chided and oddly enough, without a word of complaint, Naruto lazily got to his feet and shuffled his weary body over to the bathroom. Kagome blinked as he entered the room and disappeared from behind the door.

_'He must be really tired,'_ she thought offhandedly before opting to clean and ready the couch for Naruto's return. Instead of patting and swatting away the dust and debris Naruto brought in, she grabbed the fifth vacuum cleaner she bought that month. She kept it hidden from Naruto so he wouldn't destroy the poor machine like its last four predecessors. Not that it mattered, she reflected, as she highly doubted the blond hanyō would actively seek for the mechanism. She knew he was capable of making the impossible possible, but knowing how to operate a vacuum cleaner was one miracle that not even the great miracle worker, Naruto Uzumaki, could pull off.

Kagome sighed exasperatedly. She couldn't help but feel sort of sorry for Hinata; she had her worked cut out for her.

The raven-haired teen was pulled out of her musings after she heard Naruto dive for the couch again. She sat down besides a face-down Naruto and patted his back.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"Meh," Naruto mumbled into his pillow. "Tired. Aniki has us training like slaves," he explained as he turned his face to the left to face Kagome.

"I've noticed. Why is he and Kakashi pushing you guys so hard?" she asked, but Naruto shrugged his shoulders.

"Don't know. All I know is that we got a meeting team meeting later today," he sighed and snuggled the pillow offering him comfort. "Can I sleep for a while?" the older teen nodded with a soft smile and kissed the top of Naruto's head. She left the apartment so she could let the hanyō rest peacefully.

As she stepped out of the apartment, she had the fortune of seeing Inuyasha dragging his feet towards their home.

"I'm glad you're here," Inuyasha said, prompting Kagome to blush. "I'm so tired, help me to bed," he yawned. Kagome scowled at Inuyasha.

"What am I, your maid?" she asked flustered while Inuyasha just blinked.

"Of course no-hey! Where are you going?" Kagome decided to storm off at that moment and left Inuyasha dumbfounded, confused and still fatigued. He just stood there, growling and muttering to himself about hormonal females, all the while not noticing someone walking up to him.

"Women," he heard Kakashi comment behind him, and the dog hanyō nodded in agreement. "They're quite the puppet masters," Kakashi added.

Inuyasha scoffed. "More like prison wardens," to which the scarecrow agreed with. Finally, Inuyasha completely registered the one-eyed Jōnin standing behind him and when he turned, he saw said Jōnin with his hands in his pockets and eye-smiling at him. "What do you want, Kakashi? I'm tired and I want to go to sleep."

Kakashi just casually shrugged his shoulders. "Just wanted to know if you're going to the team meeting later."

"Can't. Old man wants me to lead another team on a _treasure hunt_," Inuyasha said sarcastically. Kakashi nodded, understanding that what Inuyasha sarcastically meant by treasure hunt, was that he was going to go look for another rogue nin from the Bingo book.

"Well, that's unfortunate. We'll miss you," Kakashi offered a hand to his shoulder before walking off. He knew the lazy bastard was hiding something; he was just too tired to care at the moment, though.

"Stupid scarecrow," Inuyasha mumbled as he disengaged the locks to the door and walked in to see Naruto drooling on his pillow and filling the room up with his light snores. Already in an irritated mood thanks to the oh-so-cheery Kagome and the most supportive man alive, Inuyasha dragged his weary body over to Naruto and easily tilted the couch so Naruto fell off the bed. Waking the blond but not bothering to explain his actions, Inuyasha jumped the the couch and proceeded to make himself comfortable.

"Hey," Naruto mumbled sleepily.

"Shut up, I'm trying to sleep here," Inuyasha scolded before finding sleep relatively fast.

"I'd kick your butt if it wasn't for the fact that there are three fuzzy, red blurs around," Naruto rambled as he tried to go back to sleep on the floor. Sure, the floor was uncomfortably hard and he could feel something crawl on his leg...

But the pillow was just so damn soft and nice...

**[*.*.*.*]**

Hinata desperately wanted to sleep, to feel its alluring caress on her fatigued mind and body. However, sleep would not come to her as easily as it came to her comrade; who she knew for a fact, could sleep on the floor as if it was the most comfortable bed in the world.

She would be in her bed, sleeping away her weariness but she had promised to spar with Hanabi when she came home.

"Stay awake," Hanabi chided lightly as she aimed to kick Hinata in her stomach with a chakra-covered right foot. Hinata hadn't been fast enough to dodge the move but she was aware enough to block the attack with her left arm. Pain, and then numbness, shot up Hinata's arm and she moved back, away from her deranged sister. She knew Hinata was running low on fuel and was about as aware as a baby sitting on a high chair.

"Are you trying to kill me?" Hinata hissed through clenched teeth. Hanabi blinked; Hinata never spoke to her – hell, or anyone else for that matter – like that. Hinata undid the damage done to her chakra points but the numbness and pain still lingered.

"I thought we were sparring, not having tea time with the ladies," Hanabi taunted.

"We are ladies... at least, I am," Hinata retorted under her breath.

"What?"

"Your form is off," Hinata said, throwing Hanabi off guard. She looked down and saw nothing wrong with her form.

"What do you mea-AH!" a red-lavender arrow made entirely of chakra – and maybe some of Hinata's frustration of not being able to dream of cinnamon rolls and Naruto – struck the floor a few inches away from her left foot. "Hinata-nee-chan! Wh-" another bow was shot and silenced the young Hyūga. She looked up at her sister's eyes and saw nothing but frustration.

"You want training, little sister? I can be most helpful in that department," Hinata said, half sweetly and half irritably. Hanabi would unconsciously engrave this moment in her life as one of the single most terrifying moments in her entire existence, as a Shinobi and as a civilian, respectively.

Multiple arrows, coming from what seemed like everywhere at once, rained down on Hanabi and the poor girl could only shriek in surprise as she tried to survive the onslaught courtesy of her typically loving and kind sister. Hanabi was jumping around the room, using her knowledge of the Gentle Fist to help guide her around or away from the pretty-colored arrows of pain and pent-up frustration.

After the last arrow was fired, Hinata and Hanabi were both left panting, with one of them holding her wrist and the other pinned to the wall in an awkward position.

"I... I survived?" Hanabi asked incredulously in a breathless tone.

"I wasn't trying to kill you, silly," Hinata said, seeming to revert back to her kind self again. Still, Hanabi kept her guard up should the other Hinata – who she will forever dub "Anti-Hinata" – return and finish the job she started.

Hinata squeaked when she eyed the clock on the wall. "I have to leave now, Hanabi! Oh dear, I'm going to be late!" she almost teleported out of the room and Hanabi was left bewildered, still pinned to the wall and all alone. She struggled to free herself but the arrows had her arms pinned down in a certain way that didn't allow them much freedom. She could rip herself off the wall since no arrows had pierced any appendage or skin but then her clothes would literally be ripped off her – and despite what Hinata stated, Hanabi knew shewas a _lady_, too, dammit!

Double checking, Hanabi found that the arrows were, indeed, made of chakra. All she needed to do was wait for the chakra to run out. Seriously, how long could they last, right?

**[*.*.*.*]**

Sasuke didn't leave the training grounds for most of the day, but when he did, he went to grab a bite to eat, only to return to his team's spot. Still, he was human, too, so he wasn't training like some sort of crazed insane asylum escapee/ex-fitness instructor on morphine and various other hallucinogenic drugs. In fact, since they were released from their team's duties earlier, the Uchiha just sat under a tall tree, enjoying the lovely and refreshing shade it provided. Add a bottle of water, and a cool breeze here and there and Sasuke was having the best and most relaxing day since he met Naruto.

Kakashi had told the four to meet up again later at five pm but Sasuke just scoffed at the idea, knowing the lazy sensei actually meant seven. He had no idea what time it was; at least not precisely. By the position of the Sun, Sasuke guessed it was a little after five, maybe five-thirty. Five-forty at the most.

"Sasuke-kun," said Uchiha looked up when his female teammate came running up to him, panting and sweating as if she had finished running around the world. It didn't help that she looked like a walking ship-wreck. Instead of voicing it, like he knew a certain blond and dog hanyō would, he just raised an eyebrow, to which the young Hyūga replied with a blush and a quick turn of her head. "I didn't get much rest," she explained. Sasuke didn't like to pry so he just left it alone and continued to enjoy the shade. Hinata moved to sit to the Uchiha's left and leaned into the tree. And suddenly, she could feel the weight of her world fall off her shoulders. It was as if the tree and its shade had a magical calming effect and drove off all of Hinata's worries away.

Stress of being the Hyūga heiress?

At the moment, she didn't even know what that meant and she could feel her eyelids begin to get heavy and slowly shut on their own. Finally, euphoric, sweet-as-candy sleep was only an eyelash away.

But fate was more than willing to shut down that desire with a big, fat 'NO' in the form of Kakashi.

"Yo!" he cheered happily. He flinched when Hinata – yes, Hinata Hyūga, the sweetest girl he's ever had the pleasure of meeting and teaching – glared at him with the kind of eyes he's only seen on Naruto when Inuyasha steals his ramen and eats it in front of the blond.

"I. Am. Tired," Hinata said in a dangerously low tone. Kakashi almost body flickered out of there; opting for a safer, nowhere-near-the-deranged-looking-Hyūga kind of place; like his home... or in no-man's land.

"Uhm, sure," he looked around and noticed a distinct lack of blond hanyō running around. "Where's Naruto?"

At this, Hinata blinked and looked around; true, the object of her affection was not with her. "I... I don't know," she answered, the idea of sleeping becoming a distant memory.

"Hn, the dobe is probably at home, sleeping off all that training," Sasuke commented, adding his two cents.

"He did trained the hardest," Hinata noted offhandedly. Sasuke and Hinata looked at Kakashi with expectant looks. He sweatdropped.

"Don't look at me, Inuyasha handled most of his training. I just made him practice his chakra control and maybe showed him a new Jutsu," Kakashi said nonchalantly. Hinata and Sasuke stared at each other, both knowing the truth. "I'll go to his apartment to see if he's there."

"Don't bother," Naruto grumbled as he smacked his lips loudly and rubbed his eyes.

"Ah, Naruto, what an honor to finally have you join us," Kakashi replied with enthusiastic sarcasm and an eye-smile.

"I didn't think you'd be here so early," Naruto excused as he moved to sit beside Hinata. Said Hyūga blushed and mouthed a greeting to the blond. Naruto blushed slightly but managed to return the gesture before nodding his head at Sasuke. The boy replied with as much gusto as he always had. "So, what is this 'super important' thing we had to meet up for?" he asked.

Kakashi's eye-smile couldn't get wider even if he tried. "Glad you asked, Naruto. But first, a pop quiz: what special event is coming up soon?"

The three teammates looked at each other.

"The Chūnin Exams," Hinata answered after putting effort into her sleep-deprived brain. Kakashi nodded.

"Wait... don't tell me," Naruto spoke cautiously, not wanting to wake up if he was still in his dreams.

The Jōnin took out some forms he kept in a scroll and handed them to his charges, along with a pen. "I think you guys are ready for this," he said as each of them began to scan the forms. Sasuke smirked as if someone told him that his fangirls had moved out of Konoha. Naruto looked like old man Teuchi had just offered him a lifetime's supply of ramen from Ichiraku's. Hinata on the other hand...

"Is this really a good idea?" she asked, getting confused looks from the three males in her team.

"Do you not want to do this?"

"It's not that. However, I heard that many Genins have died doing this," she said and looked at her two teammates. "Its not that I don't think we're prepared for this, but can we not treat this like a game?"

"Yeah," Naruto said, thinking about it a little more.

"Ah, dobe, you're not getting bonus points just for agreeing with her," Sasuke groaned, receiving a glare from a blushing Naruto.

"It's not that, teme!" he growled, before clicking his teeth. "It's just... what if we're not ready to do this?"

"Uh... yeah?"

"Think about it, teme. It's just like Hina-chan said, don't treat this like a game! This is our lives we're talk about," Naruto reprimanded.

"It'll be one step closer to achieving our dreams," Sasuke rebutted quickly, standing up and looking down at the hanyō. Naruto stood and stared at him with fire in his eyes.

"We won't get any closer to our dreams if we rush it and die!"

"We fought against Zabuza, Haku, the Demon Brothers, the literal Demon Brothers and your brother's half brother _and _lived! I'm sure these exams will be a walk in the park in comparison," Sasuke countered. Kakashi and Hinata had to admit, Sasuke had a point.

"Kakashi-sensei and Aniki handled the Zabuza and the demons, and all we did was fight Haku, caught the Demon Brothers off guard and Sesshōmaru walked off when he thought he had what he came for," Naruto neglected to mention that he had taken care of the Demon Brothers by himself a second time. He saw the look in Hinata's eyes and knew she knew as well but decided not to call him out on it. Kakashi also knew this little piece of information but also chose to keep it to himself.

"Don't be a dobe!"

"I will when you stop being a teme!"

"Well, I certainly wasn't expecting this," Kakashi said, clearly amused. "Listen, I understand both your points of view, I really do. But the decision doesn't have to be made now. The Chūnin Exams aren't for another month," Kakashi told them and Sasuke and Naruto released the tension their muscles held. They looked at each other, knowing that their argument was far from over. "I know how tempting it sounds, Sasuke, but if it isn't meant to be, you should accept it."

Sasuke crossed his arms over his chest, and rolled his eyes when Naruto stuck his tongue out at him.

"And Naruto," he said, getting the hanyō's attention. "I understand your worry, but if you worry too much, your only holding yourself and your teammates back," he took a moment to take in a breath and place his hands on his waist. "Discuss it as a team; as I can see, you already have one fighting for one side, one for the other and a third one who I like to call the 'Tiebreaker'," he said, gesturing at Hinata for the last one. "However, I will need an answer a week before the exams."

"You'll have an answer by the end of the week," Naruto and Sasuke said simultaneously. They just stared at each other, their eyes never drifting away, both wanting to see who would look away first. Naruto felt Hinata's petite and dainty right hand place itself on his shoulder and like a wave crashing onto the beach's shore, he felt his ire and will to fight wash off him.

He was the first to look away.

"All right. Good, productive meeting," Kakashi said, his sense of sarcasm as sharp and witty as Naruto's bluntness and Hinata's shyness. "Meet up here tomorrow, same time as always for a mission and please, don't lose those forms; we only get one," when all was said and done, Kakashi disappeared in a whirlwind of leaves, leaving the three to themselves.

"Who's up for ramen?" Naruto asked and Hinata shook her head with a smile.

"I would, Naruto-kun, but I'm too tired to eat," she said. Her eyes popped open and she 'eep'ed when Naruto picked Hinata up bridal-style. The blush on her face was so dark that Sasuke was almost worried that Naruto finally broke her.

"Okay, let me take you home. Meet you at Ichiraku's in half an hour?" Naruto asked Sasuke, earning a begrudging nod from the Uchiha. Naruto just smiled and walked off, Hinata unconvincingly arguing that she was wiling to walk. Naruto just felt so warm and comfy that Hinata lost all will to argue with the blond and instead chose to snuggle his chest. Naruto chuckled as he saw Hinata's eyes slowly begin to close. Before he knew it, Hinata had completely drifted off to sleep and he had to keep himself from laughing like a mad man at how adorable Hinata looked at the moment.

Naruto reached the Hyūga compound much faster than he guessed. He walked by the guards posted out the gates, nodding to Kō and Hiroku as he did before reaching the front door. Making a clone, Naruto reached into the front pockets of Hinata's jacket and retrieved a key. From there, he just had the clone open the front door and the door to Hinata's room.

With as much gentleness as he could muster up, Naruto placed the sleeping heiress on her bed.

"Naruto-kun," at first, Naruto thought she was dreaming about him – which he found flattering and embarrassing at the same time, but in a good way – but it turned out that she was awake. "Don't leave yet," she begged as she opened her eyes, those magnificently lavender orbs luring him in. Naruto could only think of saying 'yes', the word 'no' not coming up in his vocabulary.

"Five minutes," he compromised as he knelt beside her bed and Hinata smiled as she brought Naruto in for a kiss. It was soft and delicate, just like their last kiss – which was actually a week ago. And yet, it seemed like it wasn't as clumsy as it used to be. It wasn't perfect, but neither cared how sloppy their form was – as long as it was a kiss among them, it was good enough. When they parted, Naruto flashed an honest-to-God smile, a blush staining his tan, whiskered cheeks. Hinata was redder than he was, but her smile was by no means any less happy or genuine. They just stared at each other for what seemed like ages, just taking the time to stare into each others' eyes and laughing every once in a while.

The peaceful moment was interrupted when the two heard Naruto's stomach declare it's desire to be filled. He laughed sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head with his right hand. Hinata giggled. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay," she said before yawning into her hand. Naruto smiled at her adorableness and moved a stray hair from her face.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Hinata-chan," he said before giving her another kiss, this one a bit sprier compared to the first one. He was about to exit via her window, but she grabbed his wrist before he got too far. "Hm?" A cute blush adorned her creamy cheeks and Naruto couldn't help but smile.

"Are we... you know," she struggled to finish, not really used to saying it. "Boyfriend and girlfriend?" at this, Naruto blinked, blushing a blush that was in Hinata's league. He scratched his left cheek with his free hand and hummed.

"Technically, we are... right?" she shrugged her shoulders.

"We get to choose, don't we?" she asked but Naruto didn't really know. "Do... d-do you want me to b-be your... g-girlfriend?" she asked, and even though she knew he liked her, she still couldn't help but fear that he would reject her.

"Only if you want me to be your... boyfriend," Naruto told her, the word 'boyfriend' leaving a new taste in his mouth. It wasn't a bad thing, and it did sound good, but it was just so new to him that he immediately noticed the feeling.

Regardless, Hinata giggled and nodded her head zealously. His smile widened so much so that he was only a centimeter away from splitting his face in half. Hinata jumped into his arms and held on to him as if he would disappear if she loosened her grip for even a fraction of a second. They stayed that way, holding on to each other and enjoying each others company.

After a while, Naruto knew he had to go; Sasuke would only wait for so long until he'd ditch Naruto – which, unsurprisingly, wasn't a very long wait. So with a hasty goodbye, Naruto left the Hyūga compound thanks to Hinata's open window and was off his merry way to join his best friend who may or may not be waiting for him at Ichiraku's.

Unbeknownst to the two, Hiashi, the Hyūga clan head, had been standing just to the side of Hinata's door, which they left slightly ajar. He had heard most of the conversation and...

He wasn't sure if he should be mad or happy...

**[*.*.*.*]**

"Lady Kagome," Hiruzen greeted as the aforementioned teen priestess walked into his office. "What may I do for you?"

"I'd like to hire a team," she said and Hiruzen raised an eyebrow.

"Oh? For what purpose?"

"I... I need to go home, soon," she answered vaguely. She wouldn't meet him in the eyes, she kept her hands clasped together on her lap and she seemed to hesitate to give much details.

"You need to be more specific, young lady. I cannot, in good conscious, blindly send my Shinobi to their deaths because I did not do my job correctly. You need to let me know what you'll be getting my men and women into and just who is qualified to handle the threats that may appear along the way," he told her.

"I will like to hire a specific team to escort me back to my home and make sure that... that an upcoming event goes without a hitch," she said and slid a white card to the old man. Hiruzen picked up the card and his eyes almost popped out of his head. He looked at her for confirmation that his old age wasn't getting to him and she nodded her head. "Being a priestess, I have made many enemies among the demonic community so I chose team 7 because of their experience facing and fighting demons before. And also," Kagome paused, her eyes lowering to the white card. "I'd like my friends to be there."

"And Inuyasha?"

Kagome's eyes shot up at the mention of the hanyō. "No! He cannot come! I don't care what you do to keep him busy but I don't want him going," she demanded and her eyes shifted to her lap, trying to hold back her tears. "It's hard enough as it is without him."

"Yes, of course," Hiruzen said as he slid the card back to Kagome. "There is some paperwork that needs to be filled, but aside from that, it is done. Is there a certain deadline for this... event?"

"The event starts at the end of the week, so I must be there by then. However, I'd like to leave as soon as possible," she informed him and Hiruzen nodded as he scribbled the information onto a sheet of paper. He proceeded to fill out the form, filling in blanks here and there, and within two minutes, the form was ready for Kagome to sign. He passed it to her and she double-checked that all of the information was correct. With a sigh, she signed her name and set the pen down.

"Tomorrow at noon, Team Kakashi minus Inuyasha will be ready to leave," he said and Kagome nodded and thanked the aged Kage before getting up to leave. Hiruzen watched her with calculating eyes and even when she left, he could still see her in his mind. He let out a breath he didn't know he was holding as he reached for his pipe and lighting it up. "I'm getting too old for this crap," the old man said to himself as he imagined how Naruto would react to hearing the news.

* * *

**Sorry, I don't have enough time to comment...**

**Sorry for its shortness...**

**Can't wait to post the next chapter! It'll be a blast!**

**Hope you enjoyed it!**


	24. Sometimes Broken is Better

**Sorry, it's been a while since I've updated anything... again...**

**And since then, I've noticed -as I'm sure all of you have noticed – that FF has been pretty busy lately... **

**What the hell is up with all this deleting crap? Don't be assholes, FF admins, why would you make a website giving us the freedom to write and share our stories when you're only going to censor us and make us watch what we say or what we do with our stories... True, we shouldn't purposely offend anyone but who gets offended with a some sex or violence? We all have our preferences, some more intense than others... So what if we have kids running around ff? Why should we censor ourselves to such an extent when it should be the parents' job to censor the world from their kids... Why should we suffer just because Daddy and Mommy can't say no to Johnny? Can't control him...**

**And it's not like it's all jumbled up... That's what the rating system is for... **

"_**Rated MA/M/T? Oh, I know, that means its for mature audiences! Not for me,"**_** says ten year old Timmy...**

**But because we don't live in a perfect world and I'm not so naïve, I know there will be kids who'll say "Screw it" and read anyway... There are more – and better – precautions FF could've taken than to just delete stories willy-nilly, as if _they _were the ones who made the story, as if _they _slaved over the story and threw their very best into it... Sorry FF, but doing that is unforgivable... I know it hasn't happened to me – thankfully – but to hear others who've suffered the loss of a story, a creation they worked hard to bring to life, it really doesn't sit well with me...**

**So please, my readers, we need to do something about this! We can't be silent and watch as our favorite stories as erased from existence, never to return again... **

**There is this website (Change. org petitions/fanfiction-net-stop-the-destruction-of-fanfiction-net#) and you can "sign" your name down in the petition, to stop FF... We need to put up a fight... No matter how hopeless our fight might seem, how fruitless it might be, we need to fight against this because who knows who'll be next... **

**It could be you...**

**I can't say I'm surprised by FF's actions, but I can say that I am disgusted...**

**Anyways, that's that...**

**Hope this chapter entertains you...**

* * *

"Nee-chan?" Naruto softly rapped his knuckles against the closed door, but no sounds could be heard in the room. It was almost nine in the morning and typically, the blond hanyō would still be asleep until ten, but he heard something odd come from the room that woke him up. It sounded like someone was crying. "Nee-chan?" he called out, a little louder than before.

Still nothing.

"I'm coming in," he warned yet hesitated to open the door. He swallowed the fear in his throat and slowly opened the door. He prepared himself to duck, block and/or run away, should the situation call for it. When he got the door completely opened, his eyes widened to see that the room was empty. And not empty in the sense that no one was in; nothing but the bed, dresser and nightstand remained in the room. He slipped into the room and looked around and knew it wasn't a sick joke or Genjutsu. He ran to the closet and swung it open: nothing. None of Kagome's clothes were hung or folded in there. He checked the entire room but the only thing she left was her scent.

Naruto's eyes snapped at the feel of a breeze and he turned to the window, finally noticing that it was open. Did she... leave? Run away?

"What's going on?" he thought to himself as he sat down on the bed. He stayed that way, his mind racing to come up with a solution. Should he go to the old man? Technically, she was an adult and she could do whatever she want; the old man had no say so long as she didn't break any laws.

"Naruto-kun?" Naruto looked up with a smile, but it faded slightly when he saw it wasn't Kagome.

'Oh, hiya Hinata-chan," he said, a little deflated. Hinata was a little hurt at the change of look on his face when he saw it was her. Was he expecting someone else? He saw the expression on her face and he wanted to slap himself. He jumped off the bed and wrapped his girl in a hug before she could do or think anything else. "I'm sorry, Hinata-chan, I just thought you were nee-chan," he told her.

She looked up at him with curiosity in her eyes. "What happened?" she asked. Naruto shrugged his shoulders.

"I'm not sure. I know she came home yesterday and fell asleep here but when I woke up... she was gone," he answered and Hinata looked around the room, at the closet and into some of the drawers Naruto left open during his search. Naruto's eyes locked on to the open window. Hinata noticed his line of sight and what it implied.

"But, where would she go?"

Naruto blinked but his eyes never the window. "I don't know, but I got a bad feeling about this."

"We should go, Naruto-kun," Hinata said after giving Naruto some time to think. "Kakashi-sensei is waiting for us."

He looked at Hinata in shock. "He's waiting... for us?" she nodded, also surprised when she first saw Kakashi, waiting patiently along side Sasuke. Naruto sighed as he lead Hinata out of his apartment. "Something tells me today is not going to be a simple day."

***.*.***

Naruto stared at Sasuke as he and Hinata came up to the Uchiha. Sasuke just returned the stare. Their talk from the night before still fresh in their memories...

"_Are you serious?" Sasuke barked in disbelief after he swallowed the ramen in his mouth. Naruto barely got to the ramen stand just in time; Sasuke was on his way out when Naruto arrived._

"_Come on, you know that Hinata's right," Naruto rebutted, licking his bowl clean before moving on to his next bowl. Sasuke scoffed as he tried to look away from the eating frenzy Naruto was in but it was hard. When Naruto got like that, it was a horrible thing to watch, however it was like a train wreck; its so horrific that it's hard to look away. _

"_She's just worried, but I'm tell you, we'll be fine!" Sasuke assured Naruto for the tenth time within the last ten minutes. When the blond didn't reply right away, Sasuke growled as he stood and dragged Naruto out of the stand by the back of his collar. He tossed his back and sweatdropped when the blond brought his bowl outside. Sasuke was about to snatch it from the hanyō's hands but Naruto put his left hand up to stop him and chugged the rest of the bowl. Sasuke was morbidly amused when tears streamed down from his eyes. _

_Naruto sighed in pleasure and pain as he brought the bowl away fro his mouth. He tongue lolled out of his mouth and the black-haired preteen was amazed when steam came off his tongue._

"_Burned tongue?" he asked with a raised eyebrow and smirk. Naruto nodded. "Serves you right." _

_After a second of letting his tongue recuperate, Naruto shook his head and met Sasuke's eyes. "So what now?"_

"_What do you mean, dobe?"_

"_We can't really decide if we're entering the exams now, not without Hinata-chan," Naruto answered. "So what are we going to talk about?"_

_Sasuke shifted his weight on his right leg, let his left leg relax and crossed his arms over his chest. "I want to know why you're so against this," Sasuke lifted his left hand to stop Naruto from interrupting him. "And don't say 'Hinata-chan's right' because that's bull."_

"_Is not!"_

"_We have our dreams," Sasuke quickly said, throwing Naruto off. "We made a deal, you help me with mine, I'll help you with yours. This will help us get closer to our dreams, can't you see that Naruto?" Naruto clicked his teeth and looked away. "And I haven't forgotten about Hinata, either. She has her dream, a dream that we can help fulfill, but only if we take this exam!"_

"_Why now?" the blond interjected. "We can wait till the next exams, when we're more experienced."_

"_We have as much, if not more, experience than most Chūnin in this village, than most villages," Sasuke countered and Naruto shook his head._

"_I don't want to lose any of you," Naruto told Sasuke. Sasuke blinked._

"_What?"_

_Naruto sighed. "What Hinata-chan said... we can die from this."_

"_And not out there, doing missions?"_

"_Well, no..."_

"_Naruto," Sasuke placed a hand on Naruto's right shoulder. "We have each others' back. I trust that you'll be there for me just as much as Hinata will, just like I will for you two," Sasuke broke eye contact but his hand didn't move. He struggled to find the right words but Naruto wasn't in a hurry, he was too surprised. "What life throws at us, I know we'll get through this as a team-no, not as a team," at this, Sasuke looked back at Naruto and smirked confidently. "As a family. Together, the three of us, along with Kakashi-sensei and Inuyasha and Kagome, nothing can stop us from achieving out dreams. Nothing."_

_Naruto was at a lost for words. He believed in them that much? Sure, Naruto had no doubt in his mind that Hinata and Sasuke would assist him in a fight when he really needed them. But would he jump in front of a flying kunai aimed at Sasuke? At Kakashi-sensei? Aniki? Kagome?_

_Hinata?_

_He knew his answer before he could completely contemplate it._

_Still, he looked away. "I need to think about it."_

_Sasuke sighed but nodded nonetheless. "Fine. It's not like it's tomorrow or something." Naruto smiled and placed his right hand on Sasuke's shoulder. Sasuke returned the smirk._

"_Thanks for paying," Naruto said before disappearing in a blur of blue, orange and yellow. Sasuke blinked, registered what just happened, and scowled._

"_I'm gonna get you back for this, dobe."_

Sasuke's stare turned cold and Naruto couldn't help but smile sheepishly as he stood in front of the Uchiha.

"Where's Kakashi-sensei?" Hinata asked, seeing the tension between her male comrades. Sasuke's icy stare went down a few notches as he turned to Hinata.

"He went to get our client," he answered and Naruto blinked.

"We have a mission? Already? We usually get our missions together," Naruto said, prompting Sasuke to scoff.

"Not this time. He said the Hokage personally gave him this mission this morning."

"Did he mention what type of mission?" Hinata inquired. Sasuke shook his head.

"Hm, that's odd," Naruto commented, earning nods from is teammates.

"Yo," came the typically greeting of the gray-haired Jōnin. His three charges turned to him, confused as to why he was traveling alone.

"Where's our client?" Sasuke asked flatly and Kakashi sweatdropped with a shameful eye-smile.

"She's... a little busy," he answered hesitantly. "She's just getting her things together so she's prepared for the journey ahead. Speaking of which, I'd advise you three do the same."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Slow down, Kakashi-sensei! One thing at a time," Naruto said, taking a moment to breathe. "Who's the client, what's the mission, where are we going and for how long?"

"Well, our mission is to escort and protect our client to a small village near the edge of the Land of Fire's border. The trip there will be three days and we'll stay for a festival they're having for a day, to make sure nothing goes wrong. The trip back should take two days, one if we hurry," Kakashi briefed his students, picking his words wisely. "So go pack accordingly," he ordered.

"But, you never said-"

"Naruto, it's best if I don't say anything now," Kakashi interrupted him, his response surprising the blond hanyō.

"Uhm... okay..." he said and Kakashi sighed.

"We leave at noon, so you have two hours to kill after you pack. Dismissed," Kakashi told them before disappearing in a whirlwind of leaves. The three didn't move, they were too busy wondering what was up with Kakashi. Hinata was the first to go, opting to pack as fast as she reasonably could so she could meet up with Naruto. Sasuke went next, leaving Naruto alone to his thoughts. Soon enough, before he was consciously aware of it, he was heading home.

_'Could today get any weirder?'_

"Naruto-kun," his hanyō ears twitched at the sound of Kagome's voice and he turned to her with a smile, and indeed, it was her.

"Nee-chan!" he exclaimed happily and wrapped her in a hug. She giggled and patted his head. "Where did you go? Oh, what happened to your stuff? Did you sell them?"

"Slow down, Naruto-kun. You're going to fast," she laughed and Naruto laughed as well. "What are you doing now?" she asked and Naruto blinked, completely forgetting himself.

"Oh! I'm going home, I need to pack for a mission that's coming up," he answered. Kagome's eyes widened a bit but relaxed before Naruto could catch it.

"I see. Do you want me to help?" she asked and he nodded eagerly. She giggled cutely at his overwhelming energy and walked with him to the apartment. He talked animatedly about the events that transpired the day before, blushing furiously as he recalled the moment in Hinata's room. By the time he came to this part, they were already in the apartment, packing his stuff.

"So... you guys are finally a couple?" Kagome asked expectantly. It almost seemed like she was about to blow. Naruto blushed a new shade of red that it would've made Hinata laugh and jealous at the same time. Kagome enveloped the blond in a ferocious hug and squealed. "That's so cute! I was wondering when you guys would get together."

"Neh, nee-chan, it's nothing to get excited over. Really," he told her but she shook her head.

"But it is, Naruto-kun," she pushed him back so she could see his face, which was still blushing. "This is a very important step for you. Your first girlfriend! You'll learn so much when you date. Usually, couples don't last very long," she said, scaring Naruto a little.

"What do you mean?"

"Well... sometimes, the two eventually fall out of love or just lose interest. Some people just date to date, not really looking for a serious relationship."

Naruto blinked. "But I'm not like that."

"I know you're not but that doesn't mean that you won't fall out love," Kagome said and she saw the look on his face. "I'm sorry to say that but you need to know that it's not always a fairytale."

"I know, nee-chan," he smiled sadly at her. "Thank you."

Kagome bit her lower lip before a thought popped into her head. "Do you want me to tell you something my mother once told me?" she asked and Naruto nodded patiently. "_Since the dawn of ancient times, men and women have striven to find the perfect mate. And once in a while, a couple will meet, and spark a passion that is so powerful, a thousand armies could not pull them apart._ For a while, I thought she was just making me feel better. You know, telling me that maybe one day, I'll have that kind of relationship," she placed an arm over Naruto's shoulder and held him close. "But I see now. That is what you have with Hinata. Maybe not now, but you will as time passes."

"How can you be so sure?" he asked, making Kagome giggle.

"Because I have woman's intuition," she answered and Naruto smiled and held her. After holding each other a while longer, the two quickly finished packing his stuff and were out the door.

"Let's get ramen!" Naruto cheered as he swung his pack onto his back and Kagome agreed, though she had to think it over first.

Before Kagome knew it, they were standing in front of the ramen stand with Naruto pushing aside the flap as he entered. She followed after him and smiled in greeting to the owner, Teuchi, and his daughter, Ayame, before taking a seat to Naruto's left.. Kagome giggled as Naruto's furry tail fanned her back from his excitement. It amused her to no end when she saw Naruto waiting expectantly for his ramen. It was like watching a child eying the presents under a Christmas tree.

"Neh, neh, nee-chan, guess what? I'm going on a mission today, -ttebayo!" Naruto swung his legs side to side, his body appearing as if it was going to explode with his pent up energy.

"Really now? You don't say? What are you going to do?" she asked, feigning ignorance. Naruto blinked, before humming to himself in thought.

"An escort mission. But Kakashi-sensei hasn't told us who or to where. Just that we need to take some lady to some place near the border for some festival," Naruto shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly, the lack of information mattering less than nothing to him. Kagome nodded, not wanting to provoke the blond or set him off. Soon enough, his meal arrived and he dug in, albeit a lot calmer than he usually did, catching Kagome off guard.

"Kagome-sensei," a soft, polite voice greeted behind her and when she turned, she was delighted to see the semi-blushing, fully-smiling face of one, Hinata Hyūga. She motioned the Hyūga to enter and she sat beside Kagome.

"Hiya Hinata-chan," Naruto greeted docilely as he paused to greet Hinata. Said girl looked at the boy in confusion, before smiling.

"Hello, N-Naruto-kun," Kagome looked at the two interact and inwardly laughed; Naruto knew Hinata was near and didn't want to pig out in front of her and Hinata didn't think she knew of their new-found relationship.

"So, Hinata-chan, you look extremely happy to see Naruto-kun today? Why is that?" Kagome asked innocently, and Hinata looked at her with widened eyes.

"W-W-Why?" she received a nod from the elder female and turned to Naruto for help, but found that he was too entranced in his food to pay any mind to the two. Returning her gaze to her sensei, Hinata swallowed the lump in her throat and forced a less-than-convincing smile. "B-Because, I... missed him?"

"Missed him? But didn't you see him earlier?"

"W-Well, I-"

"And what about Sasuke?"

"A-Ano-"

"What's so special about Naruto-kun?" she blinked before turning to the blond. "No offense." Naruto just waved it off, his mind too occupied to really care.

"H-He's very s-special," Hinata was getting redder as time passed and Kagome felt her joy start to dwindle as she watched Hinata's body beginning to sway ever so slightly.

"Relax, Hinata-chan," Naruto said, having inadvertently dropped his chopsticks as he rushed to her side. Her eyes fluttered before looking up to Naruto, noting that he was suddenly at her side. "I told her about... u-us already," even though her passing black-out, she still giggled at seeing the pink tint painting his tan cheeks.

"I'm really sorry, Hinata-chan; I couldn't resist," Kagome apologized wholly, and Hinata nodded, still holding on to Naruto.

It continued on like that, with light jabs at Naruto and Hinata's relationship and laughs full of cheer and unadulterated happiness. Naruto and Hinata soon remembered their mission and reluctantly began to say their goodbyes to Kagome.

"Don't say goodbye just yet, I have to go that anyway," she said and Naruto and Hinata were glad to hear that. With a skip in their steps, the two younger preteens walked on both sides of the elder teen as they made their way to the front gates. Even though none of them said a word, they enjoyed each others' company all the same.

As Naruto spared a sideways glance at the two most important females in his life, he couldn't help but frown. Something just didn't feel right. His stomach seemed restless – and not from something he ate. He turned his azure eyes down to his stomach and placed his right hand over it.

"Naruto-kun?" Naruto looked, surprised to meet lavender eyes staring back at him, full of concern. Why was she concerned?

"Eh?"

"Why did you stop?" Hinata asked worriedly. Naruto took a second to register what she said and noticed that he did stop, and saw Kagome a couple of meters ahead of him, staring at him as well. He laughed sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head.

"Oh, I didn't notice," he said lamely. Hinata accepted it, even though she knew better. The small group continued forward, almost to there destination. Within minutes, they were able to make out two figures standing in the middle of the entrance of the gigantic gate.

"See ya, nee-chan!" Naruto said with a wave as he and Hinata began to ran towards their team. "So, Kakashi-sensei, where's our client? It's almost noon," Naruto asked after stopping in front of the living scarecrow. Kakashi raised his right eyebrow. He looked up and it dawned on him.

"Actually, she should be here within the next minute," Kakashi told them and Naruto blinked. He looked around; if she was, in fact, within a minute's distance away, that would mean she was within sight – or just that quick, but he highly doubted that. The only person he saw within eyesight was Kagome. Wait, was she walking towards them still? "Ah, glad to see you made it on time," Kakashi mused halfheartedly. Kagome glared lightly at the masked Jōnin before focusing on the rest of the team. Quite frankly, they all looked surprised; Sasuke was the least surprised but the look on his face was not something she saw often.

"Wait, whoa! Time out," Naruto swung his arms horizontally in front of him. "What's going on here?" he asked, hoping to get a answer from anyone, but his eyes remained on the raven-haired teen in front of him. Whether it was from shame or from the intensity in his stare, Kagome could not meet the hanyō's eyes. She wasn't fairing much better with Hinata, who seemed crest-fallen after connecting all the dots. Sasuke wasn't much farther as he bore the look of a bitter child having been denied his favorite toy.

"Tell me there's some sort of mix up, nee-chan," Naruto said, borderline pleaded. His voice tug on her heartstrings and she lost her voice. All vocabulary she possessed at that point just disappeared, so she could do nothing but nod. Naruto just stared at Kagome, his mouth left agape and his tail motionless behind him. Kakashi noticed his reaction, so he decided to release the tension. Or at least get the mission started.

"We don't have time for this," Kakashi said, his voice filled with authority. Everyone save Naruto turned their attention to him, slightly taken off guard of his sudden attitude change. "We need to get going."

"Where?" Naruto asked.

"Naruto, I already told you where we're going. This is the end of this discussion. Not another word," Naruto's eyes shifted to his sensei's lone eye. He blinked and a second later, he was staring at his feet. He might not be happy but Kakashi was sure he wasn't going to do anything else for quite a while. "If we're ready-"

"What about Aniki?" Naruto mumbled, too low for normal ears to pick up, but Kagome heard it.

"He's on a mission. He won't be back until tomorrow," Kakashi answered sympathetically not bothering to look at Naruto. "Let's move, team."

And without another word, Kakashi took a step forward. With his head bowed, Naruto brushed past Kagome, not sparing her one more glance. Hinata followed after him, her left hand hesitated to grasp his right hand after seeing the look on his face but she swallowed down her fear and gripped his hand tightly. His eyes turned to her and softened at seeing the concern etched on her slightly flushed face. He still felt some anger in his heart, boiling over to his stomach, but his ire had to take a backseat for the moment; his hime was there to distract him.

He slowly mouthed a _thank you_, causing the fair-skinned preteen's face to darken. She nodded in response and was glad that she could be useful to her boyfriend. Her blush deepened and she barely contained the joy overflowing in her chest at thinking of that; no need to show Naruto how much of a spaz she was, especially when they just started going out.

Maybe after half a year it'd be okay, but not now.

Sasuke watched their interaction observantly, his left eyebrow raising at the hand-holding and the silent words they shared. He gave the two their space, instinctively knowing that he should stay in the background as he followed after them. A smirk crossed his lips as he finally connected the dots.

He was driven out of his thoughts when Kagome appeared beside him, walking in sync with his footsteps.

"They make a cute couple, don't they?" Kagome said under her breath. Sasuke eyed her warily, as if he expected her to randomly attack him. There was a sort of far-off look in her eyes and it was shown by the tone she spoke in. The young Uchiha didn't answer, he just returned his gaze to his comrades. It wasn't really awkward; at least, not to him. He had grown up ignoring the other gender – even when they were too close for a normal person to ignore – for most of his life, opting to imagine killing his brother in multiple scenarios and ways instead of trying to convince the fan girl that simply did not know the meaning of the words "subtlety" and "personal space" that he did not want her there.

He blinked when he retracted from his musings and heard Kagome talking. His eyes scanned the left side of his peripheral and saw her mouth moving.

"-and, I just wish I could to him," she concluded with a sigh. She turned to him. "What do you think?"

"That maybe I should just live in a plastic bubble," Sasuke mumbled to himself, causing Kagome to blink when she heard it. She shook her head.

"What did you say? I don't think I heard you right," she said and the black-haired preteen sighed.

"Things happen for a reason, whether seems good now, or not," Sasuke stated before walking a bit faster, surprising Kagome. With his back to her, she couldn't help but just stare at it, her eyes never moving. Suddenly, something clicked in her head and she glowered at the young man, even though he wasn't paying attention to her.

"He wasn't even listening to me," she stated to herself in a huff.

***.*.***

The day passed quickly for team 7 and the three young Genin found themselves preparing for sleep.

Sasuke was disturbed when he told Naruto to set up the tent and the blond simply nodded without complaint. Naruto and obedience was a very odd combination, at least obedience to the degree he was displaying. It was the equivalent of having Hinata running around boldly – without her trademark jacket on – and yelling out conceited things about herself, every once in a while accompanying her words with a speaking tic, like "believe it!" or something worse.

It wasn't necessarily a bad thing if she suddenly had confidence, just like an obedient Naruto wasn't a bad either; it would just be wrong, so uncharacteristic of them.

"It's done," Naruto mumbled and Sasuke stared at the tent Naruto put up. It was decent, nothing special but it'd hold up and that was really his only concern. With a weak yawn, Naruto mumbled a "good night" to everyone, with the exception of Kagome.

"Naruto-kun, do you mind helping me get more firewood?" Kagome asked him, just as he was getting ready to give his "good night" to Hinata. He paused in his steps, not looking at her. His eyes traveled up to Hinata's and a sort of pleading look gleamed in her beautiful lavender orbs. With an exasperated sigh, Naruto nodded and followed behind Kagome, dragging his feet and looking at every which way.

Hinata watched the two go and prayed to a greater being that they returned with their issues resolved. As much as she could empathize with Naruto, she harbored no ill-will towards Kagome for having dropped such a devastating metaphoric bomb like she did. She didn't like it, but she surely hadn't and wouldn't ignore the elder to the degree Naruto had. During the whole trip, Naruto hadn't said a word to her. Hell, he barely spoke to Hinata, with the exception when she coaxed him to. Even then, his words were far and few in between and one syllable long.

Naruto was not amused with Kagome's little ruse. Of course she would ask him to join her when Sasuke, Hinata and even Kakashi-sensei were perfectly able to accompany her.

"Naruto-kun," she called out to him, as she crouched down to grab a relatively large piece of bark she found at the base of a nearby tree. She rose and turned to him, just as he moved behind a tree. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you about this earlier. I couldn't, I didn't know how," she explained, hoping to get Naruto to talk back. She gave him time to gather his thoughts and to reply; unfortunately, only silence remained.

"Come on, Naruto-kun. Talk to me," she was on the verge of tears at having her surrogate brother ignore her. She heard her voice, so raw and pathetic, pleading like a small child. Still, she couldn't help herself. "Please."

And yet, he still didn't reply. Was she going to be subjected to his silence for the remainder of what little time they had left?

"I don't know... what you're trying to pull," Naruto began, at first, quietly. Then, his voice slowly started to get louder as he progressed. "You come into my life, and now, you're suddenly leaving? Without a heads up?" he was close to snapping and yelling at the black-haired teen standing in front of him but he couldn't bring himself to actually do it. "I've had people abandon me before; this is nothing new. But it doesn't hurt any less when it happens."

"But Naruto-kun-"

"I don't want to hear it, ne-" he stopped himself, pausing to keep himself from falling apart. He held up a hand to let Kagome know he wasn't done. "Just, don't talk to me for the rest of the trip," he told her in a no-nonsense tone. He turned and headed back to camp, not giving her a chance to respond. He didn't want her to consul him or to make him realize how unnecessarily stubborn he was being. Sometimes, he doesn't want to feel better, to be put back together whenever he cracks. Sometimes, he wanted to be left alone to wallow in his depression. He couldn't be strong all the time and he found it incredibly selfish and unreasonable to be asked to be strong all the time.

Kagome watched him go, her heart sinking into her stomach.

When Hinata saw the look on Naruto's face, she had the strongest desire to run up to him and hold him, to care for him, to do anything to make all his worries, his stress, and his problems all go away. She could see herself comforting the young hanyō; she felt obligated to do so, as his teammate, as his first friend outside of his older brother and most of all, as his girlfriend.

Ignoring the heat accumulating in her face, she steeled herself to consul the object of her affection. She just hoped she wouldn't screw it up.

"Hinata-chan, please," Naruto had seen her roughly at the same time she saw him and he could tell, just by the look on her face, that she was going to try to make him feel better. It was just one of those times and she had to learn to respect it. "I'm not in a good mood."

Hinata certainly wasn't expecting that as his first response but she didn't let that deter her... too much.

"O-Oh," she inwardly chided herself for appearing weak in front of Naruto, especially in a moment like this. "Well, m-mind accompanying me?" she asked kindly, offering a warm, sincere smile to trying to assure him. Naruto stared at her for a while. Normally, he would've accepted her offer without thought, but he didn't want to appear bipolar. So, he settled to hum to himself, then shrug nonchalantly before placing himself to her left on a log they had found lying around. He was a good foot away from her and he wanted to be as close to her as possible. So why wasn't he? He wasn't quite sure.

Hinata longed to feel his touch once more, but she didn't want to upset him. He sat a good distance away for a reason, right? Surely, he had his reasons and she respected that. And suddenly, the two found themselves in a fog of awkward silence. Hinata fiddled with her hands, poking the tips of her index fingers with each other, desperately trying to think of something to say. Naruto wasn't too far behind her line of thought.

"So... I'm hungry," Naruto blurted out the first thing that came to mind. He had to sweatdrop at that; even he knew that was sad; he just wanted to palm his face so badly. Seeing the look on his face made Hinata to smile, giggle even. Naruto blinked as he turned to Hinata, watching her giggle uncontrollably at his side. A smile appeared across his face; slowly, but it was growing with every passing second Hinata continued to giggle. Her giggle was quite cute, innocent; he'd even go so far as to call it pure.

That was when he caught himself, slowly inching towards her. She had yet to catch him in the act, what with all her cute giggling and all. She didn't even consciously realize he had moved at all, even as she laid her head on his shoulder.

"What are you giggling about?" he asked, though there was no malice in his voice. He was actually pretty entertained at watching his girlfriend giggle herself silly. After her giggling subsided, she sighed contently and snuggled against his shoulder, making the blond blush brightly. She wrapped her arms on his right arm and was welcomed by his warmth. She offered no explanation for her random giggles, she was content on just enjoying the moment she was in now. Deciding not to ask any more questions, Naruto joined Hinata in enjoying their time together.

"Thank you," Naruto mumbled under his breath, barely above a whisper. Still, Hinata heard him and her smile softened.

"You're welcome," she whispered back. Eventually, she fell asleep and Naruto had to carry her to her tent. It still surprised him how light she was, much lighter than he first thought. Maybe it was him; he wasn't exactly weak to begin with, especially with his hanyō blood giving him a boost in strength, chakra and senses, just to name a few. With the help of a Shadow clone to open her tent, Naruto gently placed the sleeping Hinata on her sleeping bag and would've left her like that, if It wasn't for the fact that she still had her sweater on.

"That must be uncomfortable to sleep in," he thought out loud and then proceeded to unzip her tan jacket. When the zipper was at the bottom and to one side, Naruto opened the jacket. His eyes bulged, threatening to pop out of his sockets, and he closed her jacket again. Red painted his tan cheeks and he was doing all he could just to remember how to breathe again. He looked down at Hinata, at her sleeping face and felt his heartbeat slow down. Then his eyes traveled lower and he began to sweat.

_'She's so... developed,'_ he thought with a darker blush and swallowed the fear hitched in his throat as he began to remove her jacket. And just so he wouldn't stop, he kept his eyes trained on Hinata's face. _'For Hinata-chan, for Hinata-chan, for Hinata-chan, for Hinata-chan, for Hinata-chan...' _he chanted to himself. For the most part, it worked; his eyes never shifted to anything besides her face. His movements were as gentle as a falling feather and it took a lot of effort for Naruto to get her arms out of the sleeves without waking her up. Then again, he wasn't one of the best miracle workers in the world because he was lucky; he was that damn good.

Naruto folded her jacket neatly and placed it beside her. He moved to kiss her forehead and she smiled at the feel of his lips. One last glance at his girlfriend's face and Naruto began to exit the tent. Unfortunately, Hinata stopped his exit when she wrapped her arms around his head and brought him in for a hug. And that wasn't the worse part, she had his head buried in her chest. The blond was worried; what if his blush was so bright, it woke Kakashi and Sasuke?

And yet, Naruto made no move to leave her hold. She was so soft and he felt as if he was pressed against two comfortable pillows. Was this the reason why women had breasts? So guys could sleep on them like pillows? Why else would they be so soft, round and warm?

Eventually, Naruto felt sleep start to come to him and he began drifting off.

His eyes snapped open as his mind completely caught up with the situation. If Kagome came into the tent with him in the position he was in... he didn't want to think about how embarrassing it would be...

So, he put his hands on either side of her and began to lift himself up, only, Hinata still wouldn't let go. In fact, she freed one of her hands just so she could rub and scratch his left ear. That was it, the knock-out move. All of Naruto's strength left him and he smiled like a goof as he tail swung lazily happy behind him. Already sleepy, and now having Hinata scratch his ears, Naruto began to close his eyes, telling himself that he would get up and leave when she stopped doing that nice thing to his ear.

The next time he woke up, he would face his two male teammates with a blush and an explanation.

* * *

**Well, that's the end of this chapter. Hopefully, I can get the next one out quicker...**

_***As a side note, do you mind taking a moment of your time to go read **_**BLU3LUNA****_'s story, Esse Patre, please..._**

_**Its an awesome, fluffy story... Its not much for violence but it makes up for it in fluff!**_

_**Here's the summary:**_

_**I can adapt to any situation when I need to. A  
s a ninja, I'm trained to be very versatile.  
But this... you can't be trained for this.**_

_**Thanks for at least reading this...**_

**See ya...**


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